Mercedes-Benz Provides 11 Actros Trucks to Help in Relief Efforts for Syrian Refugees

Ryan Joseph Ramos September 19, 2013

The Syria crisis may be coming to an end, but there is still the issue of the thousands of refugees that fled the country. In order to help out, Mercedes-Benz is working with Wings of Help to provide aid for the refugees in Southern Turkey.

The German automaker has committed 11 Actros semitrailer trucks to the relief efforts, dubbed as Convoy of Hope — Wings on Wheels. The convoy will be responsible for the transport of relief supplies amounting to an estimated €4 million (around $5.42 million) from the Frankfurt Motor Show location all the way to the Gaziantep near the Syria-Turkey border.

Distance to be covered by the Convoy of Hope is around 4,000 kilometers. The vital cargo includes a variety of items, including supplies like baby food, tents, and blankets. There will also be some mobile medical centers and a couple of ambulance in the list. Food and medicine will also be given out to those in need.

Some 50,000 vaccines will also be carried by the convoy in order to ensure the health of the many children within the group of refugees. A whopping 70 per cent of the refugees are children and women. It is estimated that half of the whole 70,000-strong contingent is made up of children.

There have even been some 3,500 babies born at the refugee camps themselves.

Frankfurt Airport-based Wings of Help is an organization that seeks to help out through rapid responses and its various facilities.

The convoy will set out for the border right away, straight from Frankfurt’s International Auto Show 2013. The effort also coincides with the September 20th celebration of National Children’s Day. A couple of Mercedes-Benz Viano Marco Polo units are also on hand as escorts of the Actros convoy.