World responds to quake disaster

Nations sent help today to for quake-devastated Pakistan, with China and Japan dispatching emergency teams of rescuers and relief officials while Australia pledged cash toward recovery efforts.

The 7.6-magnitude quake that struck Pakistan-controlled Kashmir on Saturday killed more than 18,300 people, the vast majority of them in Pakistani territory but with India also reporting several hundred deaths and Afghanistan reporting one girl killed.

China sent a 49-member rescue team including earthquake experts, army engineers as well as health officials and police, the official Xinhua News Agency said today.

A Japanese disaster relief team of 50 officials was due to land late today in Islamabad to help rescue operations in the hardest-hit parts of Pakistan, according to Foregn Ministry official Hisanobu Mochizuki. A medical team will follow on Monday, he said.

Tokyo also will provide 25 million yen (€182,000) worth of supplies such as blankets, tents, and water purifiers to Pakistan, the ministry said.

The Australian government pledged 500,000 Australian dollars (€319,000) for medical and relief assistance.

“We offer Australia’s condolences to the families of the victims and continue to closely monitor the situation and stand ready to consider additional requests for assistance as further needs become known,” senior lawmaker Bruce Billson said in a statement.

Russia planned to send a plane carrying emergency workers and equipment to Islamabad from an airfield near Moscow this afternoon, a duty officer at the Emergency Situations Ministry said.

The ITAR-Tass news agency reported that the plane would carry 30 rescuers headed by a high-level ministry official, as well as four sniffer dogs trained to find people under debris.

The Japanese Red Cross Society pledged cash for emergency aid and will also send its own medical team to Islamabad.

The Malaysian Red Crescent is sending an eight-member relief team to Pakistan as soon as they receive clearance from Islamabad, that organisation’s emergency response chairman Selva Jothi said.

The Malaysian team will be joined by Red Cross and Crescent workers from other Southeast Asian nations, including Indonesia, the Philippines and Singapore, said Selva, who is also the organisation’s regional coordinator.

The Malaysian government also was expected to send an emergency response team, he said.

The European Union said Saturday that humanitarian agencies were having difficulty reaching the disaster zone but urged them to go and said the EU would provide financing.

Turkey said it was sending search and rescue teams and military planes loaded with supplies.

An eight-member UN team of top disaster coordination officials was due to arrive in Islamabad today to plan the global body’s response.

“We know that every hour counts in an earthquake of this magnitude and the United Nations is ready to assist the country affected in any possible manner,” the UN emergency relief coordinator Jan Egeland said in a statement from UN Headquarters.