ICRC ready to provide support for quake relief

GENEVA - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Saturday that it stands ready to provide any support to China for its earthquake rescue and relief work.

Philippe Marc Stoll, ICRC's public relations officer for Asia, told Xinhua that ICRC staff in Beijing have being in touch with the Red Cross Society of China (RCSC).

"For the time being, the RCSC has not request our support, but we remain on stand-by and we stand ready to provide any support," he said.

He said ICRC has also discussed the needs in terms of re-establishment of family links, allowing people to give news to their family members.

"However according to the first assessment of the RCSC, these needs are for the time being very limited as people still have access to communication means," he said.

A 7.0-magnitude quake jolted Ya'an city of Southwest China's Sichuan province at 8:02 am Saturday Beijing Time, causing 160 people killed and 6,700 injured.