Countries offer support from physicists to sniffer dogs

AS FOREIGN rescue workers combed debris to locate victims of Japan’s quake and tsunami, countries offered further aid from field hospitals to atomic physicists to address an unfolding nuclear crisis.

Fire-fighters, sniffer dogs, clothing and food have been proposed in an outpouring of solidarity with Japan, with offers pouring in from nearly 70 countries, UN officials said.

Even the poor southern Afghan city of Kandahar announced it was donating $50,000 (€36,000) to the “brothers and sisters” of Japan.

“I know $50,000 is not a lot of money for a country like Japan, but it is a show of appreciation from the Kandahar people,” Mayor Ghulam Haidar Hamidi told Reuters.

Japan has pledged $5 billion (€3.59bn) in aid to Afghanistan over the next five years, more than one-third of the total $13bn (€9.36bn) in foreign aid pledged to the country over the next five years.

Japan fought yesterday to avert a disastrous meltdown at three earthquake-crippled nuclear reactors as estimates of the death toll from the tsunami that charged across its northeast rose to more than 10,000.

Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani said Pakistan would extend all possible assistance to Japan. Nearly a dozen countries have sent rescue workers following Japan’s request, including teams from Australia, China, and the United States, the UN said. 17 more rescue teams including one from Israel were on standby.

“This is a country that regrettably is very experienced at this. But we all can see the scale of the devastation,” UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos said.

“I’m hearing reports there are many parts of the country that even the search and rescue teams or the Japanese defence forces aren’t able to get to because of fears of aftershocks,” she said.

China’s 15-member rescue team arrived in Japan yesterday, state news agency Xinhua said, bringing with them four tonnes of equipment for search and rescue operations, including their own power supply and telecommunications equipment.

Australia’s government has offered self-contained field hospitals and disaster victim identification teams. Britain has sent 59 fire service search and rescue specialists, along with two rescue dogs and a medical team.

Britain has also said that it would send nuclear physicists if requested.