Channel NewsAsia - 58 minutes
ago
SINGAPORE: Singapore sent a team to China on Friday to help
authorities there with search and rescue efforts in the aftermath
of the Sichuan earthquake.
The 55—member Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (DART) is led
by LTC Francis Ng How Juah, Commander of the 4th Civil Defence
Division, says the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).
A Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) spokesman says the team
brings with it rescue equipment like fibre—optic scopes, life
detector systems and hydraulic cutters. Four search dogs are also
on the mission.
He adds that the contingent is self sufficient, with food, fuel
and equipment that it has brought along. It is not yet clear which
area team members are headed for, but they will work with the local
authorities once they arrive in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan
province.
The DART was sent following a request from China for help, says
the MFA. China state media said early Friday it had accepted offers
from Russia, South Korea and Singapore to send teams to help find
thousands of victims trapped under the rubble of collapsed
buildings since Monday.
Time is running out to find survivors, experts said, from the
7.9—magnitude quake which hit Sichuan province on Monday. Tens of
thousands of people are dead, missing or trapped, China officials
say. — CNA/ir
