Courtesy translation
Rome, 6 June 2002 - The Italian Government has taken immediate action to deliver relief to the victims of the collapse of the Zeyzoun dam in Syria that took place the evening of the 5th of June and that provoked the death of at least twenty persons, the destruction of approximately 1400 homes, the flooding of 60 sq. km. of arable land and over 4000 homeless.
The Farnesina decided to immediately send to Damascus a number of experts who will make an on-the-spot assessment of the damage and verify the needs of the area.
In the meantime, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has organized the airlift of emergency relief items (tents, medicine, relief items) for a value of approximately 270,000 Euros that shall be delivered to Syrian authorities in order to meet the most urgent needs.