Singapore is offering military assistance to help combat the wildfire crisis ravaging Australia, killing 24 people, displacing hundreds of thousands and affecting millions of animals in the wild.
Two of Singapore’s heavy-lifting Chinook helicopters will be deployed to the state of Victoria, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced today during an update on the bushfires. Victoria, along with New South Wales and Queensland, are the states most affected by the raging infernos that have turned nearly 6 million hectares into ash.
“I also want to thank Prime Minister Lee [Hsien Loong], two Singapore Chinooks are preparing to deploy out from Northern Australia to East Sale, which is our fourth staging point in Victoria for those operations,” Morrison said in his update on nations sending help.
Singapore’s contribution comes as Australia announced that its defense force was joining emergency responders on the ground to provide help such as resupplying evacuation centers, he added. Over the weekend, up to 3,000 reservists were called up to help – a first in Australian history.
Australia has also accepted New Zealand’s help and is working with the French government for further assistance.
“We thank, very much, the New Zealand government and prime minister Ardern who has been in regular contact with me,” Morrison said, referring to prime minister Jacinda Ardern.
Ardern confirmed the country’s contribution on Facebook yesterday, saying that New Zealand is sending three helicopters as well as members of an engineering company to Australia’s south coast to provide further support.
Morrison, who’s come in for sharp criticism for his seemingly nonchalant response to the disaster, welcomed the international assistance, including from the likes of French President Emmanuel Macron.
“Last night, I spoke at length to President Macron, who extended his deep condolences and sympathies and full support for Australia as a great friend and we’re working with his government as we are with many around the world at the moment who have made very generous and kind offers of assistance … that include firefighting assistance as well as other engineering and environment support as well,” he said.
Thank you to the US, Canada, NZ and Singapore, who are providing support to help us fight these terrible #bushfires, including firefighters, helicopters and troops. We deeply appreciate the many other international friends who have offered support.
— Scott Morrison (@ScottMorrisonMP) January 6, 2020
The Australian bushfires have turned skies red in several towns, according to photos of the apocalyptic scenes posted online. They have also sent massive, thick plumes of smoke noticeable from space.
A Friday bulletin from NASA showed images taken New Year’s Day by its Landsat 8 observation satellite showing a “natural-color image of thick smoke blanketing southeastern Australia along the border of Victoria and New South Wales” side by side with an image taken several months prior.
More news from the Little Red Dot at Coconuts.co/Singapore.
