China ready to send medical team to Philippines

BEIJING - China is ready to send an emergency medical team to disaster-stricken areas in the Philippines hit by Super Typhoon Haiyan, and is waiting for approval from Manila, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Tuesday.

Spokesman Hong Lei told a routine press briefing that the emergency medical team is ready to go, and will depart for the disaster areas immediately, once China gets permission from the Philippines, he said.

Currently China has not received confirmation from Manila on whether the Chinese medical team is allowed to go, Hong said, adding that China will continue to keep in communication with the Philippines.

The first batch of Chinese humanitarian aid for survivors of Typhoon Haiyan arrived on Monday and Tuesday in the central Philippine city of Cebu, a center for relief goods distribution, according to Hong Lei.

The relief aid, including tents and blankets, was shipped by a China Eastern Airlines cargo plane and handed over to the Philippines Department of Social Welfare and Development, and then will be sent to Tacloban, one of the worst-hit cities in the central Philippine province of Leyte.

The death toll from Typhoon Haiyan has increased to 3,982 as of Tuesday, and the number of injured ballooned to 18,267, according to figures released by the Philippine government.