China medical team arrives in Nepal as toll rises

By Zhao Yanrong in Kathmandu and Zhang Yunbi in Beijing (China Daily) Updated: 2015-04-27 05:11

A villager weeps in front of her ruined home in Nyalam county in China's Tibet autonomous region. JOGO/XINHUA

The Blue Sky Rescue Team under the Red Cross Society of China also assembled its first group of rescuers in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, and was flying to Nepal on Sunday evening. The Red Cross team took part in relief efforts after Super Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines in 2013.

Yuan Shan, head of the team, told China Daily that its Tibetan division left for Nepal by road on Saturday night.

The Chinese government is providing humanitarian aid worth 20 million yuan ($3.2 million) to the Nepal government.

In Beijing on Sunday, a government coordination meeting was held among senior officials from key departments.

In addition to enforcing relief efforts and delivery of humanitarian aid, the meeting also ordered all damaged expressways to be restored between Tibet and Nepal.

As the death toll mounted, the United States and European nations sent emergency teams to support those scrambling to find survivors in Kathmandu and in rural areas that were cut off.

On Sunday, Pakistan sent two military transportation planes carrying relief supplies, search and rescue teams and a mobile hospital to Nepal.

India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and other countries have also been affected by the quake to varying degrees, with casualties and property damage reported.

A search and rescue team from Singapore was also heading to Nepal, while a 70-strong emergency services team from Japan departed on Sunday.

Xinhua and AFP contributed to the story.

Contact the writers through zhangyunbi@chinadaily.com.cn