Cardiff: Mosque sets up collection after earthquakes

A mosque has brought its assemblage unneurotic to fundraise and donate goods for earthquake victims successful Syria and Turkey.

Dar UI-Isra Mosque successful the Cathays country of Cardiff has truthful acold raised £25,000 arsenic good arsenic 5 vans of apparel and shoes to beryllium delivered to the affected areas.

More than 28,000 radical are present known to person been killed successful the disaster, with hundreds of thousands homeless.

£1.9m has been raised successful Wales successful the past 3 days.

Dr Mohamed Gaber, manager of the mosque, said they launched the fundraising run successful the anticipation of uniting radical successful action.

"As quality beings, we request to beryllium unified. Unfortunately, this is 1 of the fewer reasons for antithetic nations to travel together, and that is simply a affirmative portion of this catastrophe," helium said.

"This is simply a axenic humanitarian cause, isolated from immoderate ideologies oregon religions."

He added that galore people, not lone members of the mosque oregon the Muslim community, had donated.

The mosque acceptable a extremity of raising £50,000 and has a assortment of fundraising activities planned implicit the coming days to scope its goal. So acold they person raised £25,000.

Dr Mohammad Alhadj Ali, president and laminitis of the Syrian-Welsh society, is primitively from Aleppo, wherever his household inactive lives.

He said: "This is the latest section of the Syrian tragedy."

Dr Alhadj Ali, who is besides a objective lecturer astatine Cardiff University, organised Sunday's covering postulation astatine the mosque, which was specifically to assistance assistance efforts successful the north-western portion of Syria.

He said radical successful this country are successful a peculiarly "complex" situation.

He added: "This portion is not nether the authorities power successful Syria, and it is not nether the authorization of the Turkish government, truthful these guys are stuck successful between. Also the geographical quality is truly precise complex, mountains and hills. It's not casual astatine each to present the assistance to them there.

"My sister lives successful that region. She is successful a spot wherever 20 of her adjacent friends each passed away, each pharmacists and doctors. She had to permission her house, it has been demolished by the earthquake.

"It has truly been precise difficult. But I had to marque a decision: 'will I conscionable ticker the news, oregon bash something?'"

He explained that the donations volition beryllium taken to Turkey archetypal and past transferred via a borderline crossing constituent into Syria.

Thanking radical successful Wales for their support, helium said: "I would similar to accidental to the full Welsh community, each small helps. You person been truthful generous. I trust connected you. Diolch."

Meanwhile, Nigel Jones, an exigency aesculapian technician for the Welsh Ambulance Service successful Monmouth has taken unpaid permission to assistance successful Turkey.

Along with a squad of erstwhile and existent subject unit and different bluish airy workers, helium volition beryllium moving for humanitarian foundation RE:ACT.

Mr Jones said: "This is thing I've ne'er experienced before. I person been 42 years present successful uniformed services - the military, the occurrence work and the ambulance work - truthful I americium utilized to seeing rather bittersweet occurrences, but this is beyond comprehension.

"I deliberation I americium arsenic prepared arsenic I tin be. Volunteering has ever been wrong me. If you've got the means to assistance and the capableness to help, I deliberation you should do."