13.03.2011, 18.21
MOSCOW, March 13 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had a telephone conversation with Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu to hear the latter’s report on the implementation of his order to render assistance to quake-hit Japan, the Kremlin press service said.
Shoigu told the president that two teams of rescuers, one from Moscow, and the other one from Khabarovsk, will take off for Japan later on Sunday. The two planes will deliver equipment and tools necessary for rescue operations. He also said that in case Japan asks for more help, the Emergencies Ministry is ready sent extra assistance.
13.03.2011, 18.54
MOSCOW, March 13 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian rescuers have taken off to take part in a rescue operation in Japan hit by a devastating earthquake.
“At 18:40 Moscow time on Sunday an Ilyushin-76 plane of the Russian Emergencies Ministry took off from the Ramenskoye airport outside Moscow. The plane is carrying 50 rescuers from the Centrospas rescue team, three rescue motor vehicles and necessary equipment,” a spokesman for the Russian Emergencies Ministry told Itar-Tass.
13.03.2011, 19.33
MOSCOW, March 13 (Itar-Tass) -- A Mi-26 helicopter of the Russian Emergencies Ministry has taken off from the city of Khabarovsk in the Russian Far East to help conduct rescue operations in earthquake-hit Japan,” a spokesman for the Russian Emergencies Ministry said on Sunday.
The helicopter with 25 rescuers and a emergency vehicle took off at 18:55 Moscow time.
Earlier in the day, an Emergencies Ministry’s Ilyushin-76 plane with 50 rescuers and three rescue motor vehicles and equipment took of from Ramenskoye outside Moscow.
ITAR-TASS news agency
A British rescue team has arrived in Japan to join the search for survivors of the earthquake and tsunami.
Fifty-nine search and rescue experts, four medics and two sniffer dogs flew out on a private charter plane with 11 tonnes of equipment on board.
.....The UK International Search and Rescue (ISAR) team arrived in Japan at around 1100 GMT (2000 local time).
It is made up of experts from fire brigades across the UK, and was put together by the Department for International Development.
A spokesman for the department says the team is expected to deploy to Ofunato, about 100 miles north of Sendai on the east coast.
They will start work at first light on Monday morning, together with American search and rescue experts.
National co-ordinator for ISAR, Peter Crook, told the BBC the town had not yet been searched by rescue teams.
"We're already fighting against the clock and the logistical challenges", he said. "The quicker the team can get on the ground, the better, and they are working very hard to make that happen now."
The British team is one of only 17 in the world classified as a "heavy team", meaning it travels with the specialist tools needed to penetrate reinforced concrete and metal to reach trapped victims.
BBC News
Switzerland has joined the international relief effort in Japan, sending a rescue team to help locate missing people and distribute aid.
.....The Swiss rescue team, which includes experts in natural disasters, water, medicine and engineering, were due to arrive in Japan on Sunday. Two specialists from the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit in Beijing were also flying into the country on Saturday night.
Toni Frisch, head of the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit, told Swiss radio that the Japanese disaster needed specialists as it was bigger than the “standard rescue operation” that follows an earthquake.
The Swiss team includes 25 rescuers and nine sniffer dogs. The group will split into two, with some searching for victims underneath the debris of the tsunami and others “clarifying the most urgent needs, including in the environment, helping coordination with the authorities, and putting the first aid measures in place”.
Around 45 countries have offered their help to Japan and the United Nations is sending a group to coordinate work by the international community. A spokesman said four teams from the United States, New Zealand, Australia and South Korea were already on their way.
SWISS info