The Mirpuri Foundation and Hi Fly have teamed up again, this time to deliver humanitarian aid and medical equipment to Beirut, Lebanon, after the city was devastated by a huge chemical explosion.
The Hi Fly Airbus A340 9H-SUN cargo plane carried 45 metric tons of donated relief, including survival essentials like water and food as well as medical supplies for doctors dealing with the fall out of the devastating explosion that destroyed much of the Lebanese capital. Over 1,800 individual doses of medication were donated directly the Mirpuri Foundation itself.
Hi Fly and the Mirpuri Foundation have also pledged an additional 200,000 Euros in order to cover the costs of the humanitarian mission.
”We want to contribute and help by sending emergency and humanitarian aid to Beirut on Hi Fly” explained Paulo Mirpuri, president of the Mirpuri Foundation and Hi Fly airline.
The Beirut Relief Flight was organized by Aviation Malta, Hi Fly, the Mirpuri Foundation and Captain Charles Pace of Transport Malta. This initiative received wide support from the aviation industry and the private sector and the Maltese public have also donated heavily to bring relief to the Lebanese people.
Following the explosion in Beirut on August 4th, about 300,000 people were immediately displaced. Families have been forced into temporary shelter with relatives and friends, or in schools or other civic buildings. According to local assessments, as many as 500,000 people need immediate assistance with food, clothing, and shelter.
“We have been overwhelmed by the response of the Maltese public who have shown such solidarity with the people of Beirut and have not hesitated to help the Lebanese in their hour of need” says Captain Charles Pace who has been instrumental in getting this initiative off the ground.
“We also extend huge thanks to Hi Fly, the Mirpuri Foundation and Enemed, without whose plane and fuel, this mission would not have been possible.”
Aviation Malta would also like to thank the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, General Soft Drinks, Playmobil, the Convenience Shop, Stanley Bugeja at the Malta Business Aviation Association (MBAA), Alliance Executive Jets, Corendon Airlines, Emperor Aviation, The Malta Red Cross, Air X, Magro Brothers, Foster Clarks, the Malta Red Cross and Viana Hazzoury.
The Mirpuri Foundation and Hi Fly airline are also supporting the “Help Beirut” initiative. The campaign was created by Portuguese doctor Andreia Castro, who after traveling to Lebanon, found that an important sections of the capital had been completely destroyed and was lacking in innumerable basic necessities.
Understanding the urgency of the situation, the Mirpuri Foundation immediately decided to contribute by providing 1800 individual doses of medicine and hospital material essential for health workers on the ground to continue to support the devastated population.
The Foundation extended it’s good work by organizing a further three metric tons of cargo to be delivered on the Hi Fly aircraft as part of the “Help Beirut” initiative.
The aid program has now extended throughout Lebanon and now has hundreds of people and organizations wanting to join in and show support, contributing time and/or money.
The Mirpuri Foundation intervention meant that a rescue mission that was likely to have taken three weeks was completed in a single day, which given the urgency and significance of the material in question will make a huge difference.
