MOSCOW, March 31 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry said Friday it would send two airplanes with rescuers and humanitarian aid to western Iran, hit by a powerful earthquake in the morning.
"Two freight Il-76 planes are ready to take off, with a rescue crew and humanitarian aid on board," ministry spokesman Viktor Beltsov said, adding that the aid package contained tents, blankets, food, electric radiators, and a makeshift hospital.
Russia will provide the relief aid in keeping with a 1999 agreement with Iran's Interior Ministry on disaster management cooperation, Beltsov said.
Friday's magnitude 6.0 quake, preceded by overnight tremors, caused massive destruction in more than 300 villages and towns in Iran's western provinces, killing at least 70 people and leaving more than a thousand others injured.
