Relief efforts underway to help tsunami-hit victims
28/12/2004 14:50
International relief efforts are amounting to help the wounded and homeless
recover from the unprecedented scope of devastating tsunami that swamped the
coasts of Thailand, Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia and the Maldives on Sunday. A
strong earthquake measuring 8.7 on the Richter scale and the following tsunamis
on Sunday hit countries around the Indian Ocean including Bangladesh, India,
Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand, killing more
than 25,000 people and leaving millions displaced. The German government is
sending a 12-member team of water supply experts to Sri Lanka Tuesday with
mobile water testing and treatment equipment. Chinese premier Wen Jiabao
announced Monday that China will airlift emergency aid to the earthquake and
tsunami-struck countries and China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of
Commerce and Ministry of Finance are working to carry out the aid provision
work. Japan announced Monday to send disaster relief items worth 50.4 million
yen (US$490,000) to the victims of the earthquake and tidal waves. The aid,
mostly blankets, generators and tents, will go to Indonesia, Maldives and Sri
Lanka, a foreign ministry official said. Japan sent a 20-member medical team
to Sri Lanka and disaster surveillance experts to Indonesia on Monday. Prime
Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Japan was ready to offer more aid as the scale
of victims' needs became clearer. The Japanese Red Cross Society earlier
announced a contribution of 100 million yen to help tsunami victims. Two
Royal Australian Air Force C130 aircraft carrying essential emergency stores
including medical supplies, blankets and other emergency provisions are about to
leave for Southeast Asia. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has pledged 10
million Australian dollars (US$7 million) for relief efforts, but Prime Minister
John Howard said Australia would commit more. In the wake of the disaster,
Howard said he would consider setting up an Indian Ocean tsunami warning system
which could have given Phuket, Thailand, 15 minutes notice of danger and places
like Sri Lanka much more time. The Singapore government announced Monday that
it will provide approximately 2 million Singapore dollars (about US$1.2 million)
worth of relief assistance in terms of personnel, medication and fund to
countries stricken by Sunday's devastating earthquake and tsunamis. A medical
team from Singapore Armed Forces is ready to fly to Indonesia once governments
of the two countries decide how to deploy the team in the best possible
way. The government will also provide 500,000 Singapore dollars ( about
US$305,000) to the Singapore Red Cross Society to help its appeal for public
donations, said government officials. The Nepali government has decided to
provide US$100,000 to Sri Lanka where nearly 12,520 people have been killed and
hundreds of thousands of others displaced.
Xinhua
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