The logistical team from the Finnish Red Cross will travel to Nepal from Tampere on a Belarusian airplane. The aircraft is expected to arrive at the Tampere airport around 12.30 pm and will depart once the team members and their equipment have been loaded on board.
The team was originally due to head to Kathmandu on Wednesday, but the flight was postponed because the aircraft was still awaiting permission to go to Nepal.
The unit will operate from the airport in Kathmandu, where it will assist with receiving and distributing aid supplies.
Along with the rescue support workers, the plane will also carry a dispatch of 140 tents and nearly 1,000 sets of kitchen dishes. One SPR aid worker will also accompany the team.
Rescue workers' trip cancelled
On Tuesday a group of rescue workers on standby to travel to the disaster-stricken country had their flight cancelled by the Interior Ministry, after Nepalese authorities announced that they did not need any additional rescue workers in the capital.
The country’s lone international airport in Kathmandu was also said to be in a state of chaos.
Attention has now been shifting to the country’s more remote areas, where relief efforts are said to be slow in coming.
Nepalese officials say the death toll from the quake is now around 5,500 with at least 11,000 injured. The United Nations says more than eight million people were affected by the 7.8-magnitude quake and 70,000 homes were destroyed.
