Asia-Pacific News
China allows rescuers from Japan, Taiwan into quake area (Roundup)
By DPA
May 15, 2008, 12:02 GMT

Beijing - China has agreed to allow Japan and Taiwan to send emergency rescue teams to help with efforts to save tens of thousands of people buried under rubble after a devastating earthquake, the government said Thursday.

'The Chinese government has agreed to the Japanese government sending professional rescue personnel to help with rescue efforts in the Sichuan earthquake disaster area,' Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said in a statement.

The government said later Thursday that it would allow a rescue team from Taiwan's Red Cross to also help in the south-western province.

Qin told reporters that China was also considering allowing an Australian rescue team to work in Sichuan, while rescuers from China's Hong Kong region were already working there.

The two teams are believed to be the first foreign rescuers that China has allowed into the area since the 7.8-magnitude earthquake destroyed thousands of buildings in Sichuan and other areas of south-western China Monday.

The Japanese government said a team of about 40 to 50 experts from the fire service, police and coast guard would leave for Sichuan on Thursday, the official Xinhua news agency reported from Tokyo.

The confirmed death toll has risen to about 20,000, and late Thursday the government said it estimated that more than 50,000 people had died in the quake.

At least 26,000 people were believed to be buried in collapsed buildings, while the agency said more than 30,000 people were missing or out of contact in Sichuan's Shifang city alone.

Military helicopters began flying aid, medical personnel and relief troops to isolated settlements near the epicentre Tuesday.

But the extent of the damage and casualties in the worst-hit county of Wenchuan, which has a population of 105,000, remained unclear.

A paramilitary officer who was one of the first outsiders to reach some of the worst-affected areas on Tuesday said several towns were almost razed to the ground.

Heavy rain had initially prevented helicopters from flying emergency aid to Wenchuan while troops were still trying to restore two badly damaged main roads to the county town.

The earthquake was felt in cities hundreds of kilometres away, including Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Bangkok.