(ANSA) - ROME, FEB 7 - Italy is to send a ship carrying its mission to help the rescue and relief effort after the earthquake in Turkey and Syria that has left at least 5,000 dead, including a major field hospital, Civil Protection Minister Nello Musumeci said Tuesday.
    "While the group of Italian specialists has already been at work in Turkey since this morning, we are preparing to send other units and essential goods, including what is needed to equip an important field hospital", he said.
    Speaking at the end of a long working meeting with the head of the Civil Protection Department, Fabrizio Curcio, Musumeci, who is also minister for sea policies, said that Italy's further dispatch was agreed in the last few hours with the European Commission, which coordinates the Member States' interventions.
    "A special Defence ship, made available by the Navy,' Musumeci added, "will take care of the transport of the Italian mission to Turkey as soon as possible." (ANSA).