Chinese health care professionals dole out medine in
Hikkaduwa, Sri Lanka, on Saturday as a three-member team from Macau arrived to
offer aid in the tsunami-hit region -- Xinhua
Chinese people have given nearly 125 million yuan (US$15.1 million) to the
tsunami-hit Asian countries.
The special office coordinating non-government
donations under the Ministry of Civil Affairs said the figure reached 124.83
million yuan at 4pm yesterday.
The red Cross Society of China, the China
Charity Foundation and their local operations collected the money.
The red
Cross Society of China said it had received more than 100 million yuan by noon
on Saturday.
It said ordinary Chinese people were greatly concerned for the
tsunami victims in the South and Southeast Asian nations.
A couple who
refused to give their names made the biggest contribution of 5 million yuan on
Friday, said Red Cross spokesman Wang Xiaohua.
Wang said the first US$2
million collected has been given to Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and the
Maldives.
He said US$600,000 went to Indonesia, US$500,000 to Sri Lanka,
US$400,000 to Thailand and US$300,000 to the Maldives.
Additional relief
materials including medicine, pure water and clothes will be airlifted to the
disaster-hit countries soon.
Three chinese medical teams are working in some
of these countries and more are ready to go at any time, Wang said.
A
spokesman for the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China's biggest bank,
said the bank has given 1 million yuan via the Red Cross.
The state
Development Bank has given 14.9 million yuan, the biggest sum by a social
institution.
Meanwhile, three medical professionals from the Macau Special
Administrative Region of China arrived in Hikkaduwa, Sri Lanka, on Saturday to
reinforce a Chinese medical team that has worked in the tsunami-hit region for a
week.
The three volunteers - a specialist in general surgery, a physician
experienced in intensive care and a first-aid nurse - started work yesterday
despite a 19-hour trip by plane and car.
Wang bingqiang, head of the Chinese
medical team, said their arrival would help his team take on more work.
"With
more physicians here, we can also take turns to have a rest during heavy work,"
he added.
Wang said the three also brought badly needed medicines such as
disinfectants and antibiotics, which could effectively ease the drug shortage
faced by the team.
The first batch of 14 Chinese medical rescuers arrived
last Monday at Hikkaduwa, a southern coastal town that was among the hardest hit
regions in the tsunamis on December 26.
They have treated more than 800 local
people.
On saturday, medics and social workers from South Korea, Greece and
Cuba also arrived to join relief efforts.
In hong Kong, a jersey with
signatures from players of the English soccer club Manchester United was paid
288,000 Hong Kong dollars (US$36,900) yesterday at a charity auction for victims
of the tsunami disaster.
An autographed jersey by the English national team
also raised HK$228,000 at the auction held by the Hong Kong Football Association
during a match between the Hong Kong team and a squad from Guangdong
Province.
A pair of sports shoes belonging to Hong Kong actor Stephen Chow
fetched HK$100,000.
Around 40 support team members will continue to provide
services to HK residents in Thailand, though the team's deployment is to be
adjusted, according to the Hong Kong government.
In view of a decreased
demand for services, about 30 team members left Thailand for Hong Kong on
Saturday.
The help desks set up in Phuket and Bangkok International Airport
are operating during busy hours only. The multi-disciplinary support team will
also maintain its presence in hospitals where Hong Kong residents are staying,
it said.