ASEAN holds first joint disaster drill

ASEAN holds first joint disaster drill

MALAYSIA: Some 200 personnel took part in Southeast Asia's first
joint disaster drill on Monday, aimed at preparing the region to
respond more effectively to events like last year's tsunami
tragedy.

Search and rescue personnel, including sniffer dogs and their
handlers, swarmed over a 20-story abandoned building on the
outskirts of the Malaysian capital which under the simulation had
"collapsed" in a major earthquake.

Rescuers used shovels and their bare hands to remove rubble
and extract "victims", while fire fighters extinguished simulated
fires in the wreckage, and police units were on standby to arrest
"looters".

"This is first ever kind of disaster exercise conducted
jointly by ASEAN countries," said Raman Letchumanan, head of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) environment and
disaster management unit.

"It is to establish a standard operating procedure so that in
the future if we have another disaster, we can respond quickly
without delays," said Raman, from the ASEAN secretariat in
Jakarta. -- AFP