World moves to assist Nias, Simeulue quake victims
World moves to assist Nias, Simeulue quake victims
Agencies, Australia/Washington/Tokyo/New Zealand/Ottawa
Foreign troops and aid workers who had only just left the country's tsunami-hit areas were rushing back on Wednesday to help stricken victims of the latest earthquake as countries around the world rallied for a second emergency relief operation.
The Australian military, returning home after providing aid to victims of the Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunami in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, has been remobilized following Monday's 8.7-magnitude quake which devastated Nias and Simeulue islands off western Sumatra.
The ship HMAS Kanimbla was diverted from Singapore back to Sumatra, while two Australian military transport planes and a navy helicopter carrier were taking medical supplies and a medical evacuation team to the islands, Defense Minister Robert Hill said, Agence France-Presse reported.
Hill said a third Hercules would leave Australia within the next few days to provide extra personnel for a 90-bed field hospital aboard the HMAS Kanimbla.
In the United States, Associated Press reported that President Bush offered the help and prayers of America on Tuesday to victims of an Indian Ocean earthquake that saw Indonesia battered for the second time in three months.
"On behalf of the American people, Laura and I offer our condolences to the victims of yesterday's earthquake in Indonesia," Bush said as he opened a speech on Iraq in the White House's Rose Garden. "The people of Indonesia can know as well that they have our prayers and that our government is ready to assist."
Japan said on Wednesday it had sent an emergency medical team and US$140,000 worth of relief supplies to Indonesia to help with the quake aftermath.
An 11-member emergency medical team left Tokyo early Wednesday in response to a request from the Indonesian government for help, Japan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement as reported by AP.
Japan was also sending 15 million yen ($140,000) worth of blankets, generators, sleeping mats and tents, the statement said.
The Philippines is also sending a humanitarian team to help the quake victims, President Gloria Macapagal said on Wednesday as she called for a national day of prayer.
"On behalf of our people, I extend our sympathies to our brothers in Indonesia who have continued to suffer loss and pain on account of another earthquake," she said in a statement as reported by AP. "We are prepared to send a humanitarian mission to help the Indonesian people cope with and rise from this tragedy."
Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit said a 16-member medical team of nurses, psychologists, surgeons, pediatricians, an internist and sanitary engineers was heading for Indonesia this week.
A New Zealand aid group is sending boats with medical teams to Nias to help those injured in the devastating earthquake, a New Zealand aid agency said on Wednesday.
New Zealand private aid group SurfAid would also fly doctors to Nias in a helicopter as soon as they find one to hire, said government funding agency NZAid spokeswoman Catrina McDiarmid as reported by AP.
Canada's Foreign Minister Pierre Pettigrew said on Tuesday in a statement that Ottawa was also prepared to give aid to the quake victims.
"Canada remains ready to respond," said International Cooperation Minister Aileen Carroll as reported by AFP. "We will continue to be in close contact with international relief agencies present on the ground as they assess the needs of those affected."