Daimler Trucks is sending eight Mercedes-Benz Actros semitrailers from its plant in Stuttgart, Germany, to carry about 120 tonnes of relief supplies for Syrian refugees in Turkey.
The mobile relief effort has been initiated by Daimler Trucks in collaboration with “Wings of Help” (Luftfahrt ohne Grenzen, or LOG), a Frankfurt-based humanitarian relief organisation. The convoy is the third of its kind, with the first one being sent by Daimler and LOG in September 2013.
At the time when the initial relief convoy was sent, some 2.2 million Syrians had fled into neighbouring countries, with the figure now closer to four million.
The situation for Syrian refugees has not improved since the first convoy was sent by Daimler, said Dr Wolfgang Bernhard, member of Daimler AG’s board of management and head of its Trucks and Buses division.
“On the contrary, matters have got even worse. Our third aid convoy, made up of a further eight trucks, is therefore setting off to bring vital supplies and help to these people where they are most needed: there, on the ground,” he said in a statement.
The Mercedes-Benz trucks will be delivering relief supplied collected by LOG for about 30,000 refugees in the Turkish camps at Gaziantep and Suruç, some 4000 kilometres from Stuttgart. The supplies, worth €1 million ($1.12 million), consist of baby food, nappies, clothing, shoes, blankets and tents. They will be carried by five Actros 1842 LS and three Actros 1845 LS tractor units.