Members of Chinese earthquake rescuing team
wait to board the plane at the Beijing Capital International Airport on December
30, 2004. The 30-member team will be dispatched to Indonesia, which have
the worst tsunami-hit area and have lost over 30,000 lives.
[Xinhua]
A 35-member Chinese medical team arrived in Indonesia on
Friday morning to help victims of the devastating quake and tsunami in the
country.
The team arrived in Medan, capital of North Sumatra, early in the
morning and will rush to the worst-hit Aceh Province later in the day.
On
Thursday night, a Boeing 747 carrying 50 tons of relief goods also arrived in
Medan.
China on Wednesday delivered 100 tons of goods to Sri Lanka.
The
two batches of relief goods, worth 21.63 million yuan ( about US$2.62 million),
are mainly tents, blankets, bedsheets and food that are badly needed by the
people affected by the tsunami.
The doctors to Indonesia are China's third
international rescue team. Four women in the team have become China's first
female rescue workers overseas. The country sent medical teams to Algeria and
Iran in 2003 for earthquake victims there.
China's State Seismological Bureau
has also sent an expert to Sri Lanka to help with UN disaster assessment
there.
More relief goods are expected as China has decided to increase its
assistance efforts.
On Sunday, a tsunami, triggered by a powerful earthquake,
rocked many coastal countries in South and Southeast Asia and East Africa.
According to reports, deadly tidal waves have killed at least 118,000 residents
and tourists. In Indonesia, the death toll is nearly 80,000.