Foreign and Military Affairs
China's rescue team in Haiti for 15-day mission
By Xie Jingwei (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-01-14 16:26
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 China's National Earthquake Disaster Emergency Rescue Team arrived at the Port-au-Prince International Airport in Haiti on Thursday. [Photo/Xinhua] |
China's National Earthquake Disaster Emergency Rescue Team has arrived in the quake-devastated country of Haiti Thursday to conduct a 15-day rescue mission.
The charted Air China plane carrying the 60-strong team arrived at the Port-au-Prince International Airport before the dawn on Thursday local time, according to Airplane Operating Control Center of Air China.
The team consists of search and rescue personnel and three sniffer dogs, Liu Xiangyang, deputy chief of the National Earthquake Disaster Emergency Rescue Team, told Xinhua at the Beijing Capital International Airport before leaving.
Provisions such as food and medicine carried with the team can sustain its operation in the country for 15 days. Rescuers also need to rest after 15 days of work over health and safety concerns. The team is equipped with advanced acoustics, optics and infrared facilities, according to a cnr.cn report.
It is the sixth time the Chinese rescue team has carried out an overseas mission since 2001.
A 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit Haiti Tuesday, collapsing a hospital and damaging buildings in its capital city of Port-au-Prince, and may have caused tens of thousands of deaths.
