Along with sending emergency medical teams, Japan has decided to provide emergency relief goods to the Maldives, Sri Lanka and Indonesia to help the victims of a huge earthquake off Indonesia and the consequent tsunamis.
A 20-member emergency medical team from Japan arrived in Colombo on Monday night to treat victims of tsunamis caused by Sunday's killer earthquake off Sumatra Island, Kyodo News reported Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Japanese disaster-prevention groups and nongovernmental organizations have also decided to send aid to countries hit by the quake and tsunamis, which left more than 12, 000 people dead and 3,000 others missing.
Japan's aid to the Maldives will be 9.7 million yen (US$93,200) worth of relief goods like tents, blankets, generators and water tanks, said the Foreign Ministry.
About 14.7 million yen (US$141,000) worth of goods such as tents, sleeping mats, plastic sheets, generators and water tanks will go to Sri Lanka, while 26 million yen worth of tents, blankets and generators will be given to Indonesia, the ministry said.
The Japanese Red Cross Society pledged to provide 100 million yen (US$961,000) in aid to victims of the quake in response to a request from the International Committee of the Red Cross.
The Red Cross group also said it will offer additional aid to the victims, saying it will accept donations from the public between Dec. 28 and Jan. 31.
The Japanese Foreign Ministry has set up an emergency office and begun studying the dispatch of a medical unit to Sri Lanka under the government's international disaster relief framework.