Rescue & Aid
Race to deliver supplies to victims
By WANG HUAZHONG (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-04-16 07:46
 |
Large Medium Small |
BEIJING - Vast supplies of urgently needed necessities such as food, tents and clothes are racing against time and tight traffic to reach 100,000 people affected by the earthquake in Yushu prefecture.
The central and local governments are arranging and distributing the needed materials to Yushu, Zou Ming, director of the disaster relief department of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, told a press conference on Thursday.
He said nearly 29,000 other tents, from central and provincial reserves and donation, would be sent to the quake-hit region.
In addition, 120,000 cotton coats, 120,000 quilts and 20,000 makeshift beds had been sent to the quake-hit region, he added.
Though the temperature in Yushu dropped to around zero the first night after the quake, Zou believed the coming supplies would be "enough for about 100,000 people".
Moreover, the ministry had also asked for assistance from the military to help airlift 100,000 packaged meals from Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi province.
Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Shandong provinces would further contribute 30 tons of instant food each, Zou said.
"The problem is that transportation is tight. We need more time to ship all the materials," Zou said, adding all the roads to Yushu are unblocked and accessible.
On top of the 200 million yuan ($29.3 million) of central government money for relief, many individuals and organizations that had participated in the Sichuan earthquake relief in 2008 are mobilizing fellow citizens to offer help to the affected.
A Guangzhou city resident named Liang Sheng posted online a more comprehensive list of necessities based on his volunteer experience in Sichuan.
Mineral water, antibiotics, mask, sponges, toilet paper, milk powder, flashlights, radios and candles are all on his list.
"At many relief outlets, doctors told others to bring in more sanitary towels. No one thought about that, causing many women to become infected," posted a netizen who described himself as a frontline volunteer.
Zhou Weiyan, a volunteer who arrived in the Qinghai Provincial People's Hospital on Wednesday, said online that translators who speak Tibetan and Yushu dialects are also needed.
"Now the hospital has some local students responding to the call. But in some other hospitals that also take injured people from the quake-region, the need still exists," she said.
CHINA DAILY
