"Another plane with additional humanitarian aid supplies for local population affected by the natural disaster is scheduled to fly to Sri Lanka on December 30," Mr. Beltsov said.
He also mentioned that among the priority supplies are large tents supplied from the reserve stocks of the Russian defense ministry, potable water, water-purification sets and disinfectants. These supplies are the most needed in the disaster areas at the moment.
At present, Russian emergencies ministry representatives in cooperation with local governments and UN structures specify the areas where the humanitarian aid is needed the most and assess the amount of sufficient aid.
Search-and-rescue teams from the ministry have been sent to the areas of the island heavily hit by the tsunami.
Yesterday, the first two flights with humanitarian aid chartered by the ministry landed in the capital of Sri Lanka, Colombo. They delivered 110 large tents and 2,200 blankets. They also transported a group of rescue workers with necessary equipment, a search-and-rescue light helicopter Bo-105 and various vehicles.
The emergencies ministry coordinates with Russian diplomats plans for evacuation of Russian tourists from the disaster zone. A plane chartered by the ministry to deliver humanitarian aid to Sri Lanka collected a group of Russian tourists in Colombo and will bring it to Moscow on December 29.
