Bangladesh is set to send relief and medical supplies to Syria, where an earthquake has killed thousands of people.

A Bangladesh Air Force C-130J aircraft will transport the aid via Jordan, the Inter-Services Public Relations Directorate or ISPR said in a statement on Friday.

The relief includes large and small tents, blankets, sweaters, dry food and medicine. Group Captain Jamil Uddin Ahmed will lead the mission.

The government has sent a team of 61 medical experts and rescuers to Turkey, joining humanitarian efforts to help hundreds of thousands of people left homeless by the earthquakes.

The magnitude 7.8 quake rippled through southeast Turkey and war-torn Syria early on Monday, toppling entire apartment blocks, wrecking hospitals, and leaving countless more injured or homeless.

The death toll from the deadliest quake in the region in two decades crossed 21,000 in both countries on Friday.

Bangladesh announced a day of state mourning on Thursday for the victims of the devastating earthquakes.

The national flag flew at half-mast at all government, semi-government and autonomous institutions, educational institutions and Bangladesh missions abroad.

Special prayer services were organised in all religious institutions across the country.

The country’s two main parties, the ruling Awami League and the BNP, cancelled their programmes on this day.