WATCH: Emirates flies aid to flood-hit Kerala

Airline joins UAE effort to help victims in stricken Indian state

Aid destined for Kerala, India, being loaded onto an Emirates cargo plane. The goods have been donated by people in the UAE. Courtesy Emirates SkyCargo

Emirates SkyCargo has started to fly about 175 tonnes of aid to help flood victims in the stricken Indian state of Kerala.

The cargo arm of Emirates will make more than a dozen flights loaded with blankets and dry food items to the state's capital Thiruvananthapuram.

The goods have been donated by UAE-based businesses and organisations and will be handed over to local flood relief and aid organisations for distribution.

Separately, a plane loaded with 41 tonnes of aid landed at Calicut airport on Wednesday.

The Vision Air flight was chartered by Universal Hospital in the UAE.

Universal staff in Kerala and volunteers on the ground will help distribute the goods once it clears customs.

Close to 400 people have died, thousands are stranded and a million are displaced following unusually heavy monsoon rains that swamped the Indian state.

A massive clean up operation has now begun.

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Read more:

Aid cargo from UAE arrives in Kerala 

'When there's disaster, people unite': UAE's rich and poor unite to help Kerala flood victims 

'Everything is lost': Indian expatriates in UAE speak of Kerala flood devastation