Qatar Provides Earthquake Victims with World Cup Mobile Homes 

The Qatar Fund for Development said that the first batch of 350 buildings was transported out on Sunday.

By Omotayo Olutekunbi

Officials in Qatar intend to deploy 10,000 cabins and caravans from last year’s World Cup to give refuge to survivors of the Turkish earthquakes.

The gas-rich Gulf kingdom claims it has always intended to gift the mobile homes. They were required to lodge some of the 1.4 million spectators that poured on the little country for soccer’s greatest event.

The Qatar Fund for Development said that the first batch of 350 buildings was transported out on Sunday.

More than 35,000 people were murdered in southeastern Turkey and war-torn northern Syria by magnitude 7.8 and 7.5 earthquakes that struck nine hours apart on Feb. 6. The death toll is anticipated to rise higher if additional corpses are discovered by search and rescue crews.

Tens of thousands of structures were destroyed or seriously damaged, displacing millions of people. As shelters became overcrowded in the days following the earthquake, many people were forced to sleep outside in the rainy, winter weather.

Qatar and other affluent Gulf countries have joined the international effort to deploy rescuers and assistance to the devastated region. The UAE has contributed $100 million to aid with humanitarian operations. Saudi Arabia has sent eight planes carrying supplies to Turkey and Syria.

On Tuesday, the eighth Saudi flight touched down in government-held Aleppo, in northern Syria. Throughout the height of Syria’s civil conflict, Saudi Arabia was a staunch supporter of the opposition and, unlike other Arab countries, has shown little interest in any reconciliation with President Bashar Assad.