Foreign and Military Affairs

Chinese rescue team ready for Japan quake relief

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-03-11 17:38

BEIJING - A Chinese NGO rescue team said they are calling together professional volunteer members and and ready for quake relief work in Japan, hit by an 8.8-magnitude-quake Friday.

Qiu Lili, team leader of the Beijing Red Cross Blue Sky Rescue Team, told Xinhua that they have contacted the Japanese Embassy, expressing their will to help.

"We will also send a formal letter to the embassy soon and wait for their reply," she said.

The team issued an emergency call through microblog and cellphone short message services to their members to stand by, just 2 hours after the killer quake.

"We have by now received replies from ten members, complete with their passport information," Qiu told Xinhua over phone.

Founded in November 2008, the Blue Sky Rescue Team has been joined by professional individuals, who have been participating rescue work in the Wenchuan quake in southwest China in 2008 and other natural disasters.

They have received constant trainings from domestic and foreign professionals, Qiu said.

"Two Japanese coaches just went back after completing a recent training session for us. We cannot contact them now and are very concerned about their situations," Qiu said.

The team has just sent 7 people to Yingjiang County of southwest China's Yunnan Province, which was jolted by a 5.8-magnitude quake Thursday afternoon.