ID :
163226
Wed, 02/23/2011 - 06:43
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/163226
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Japan Relief Team Leaving for Quake-Hit New Zealand
Tokyo, Feb. 23 (Jiji Press)--Japan's 67-strong emergency relief team will leave for New Zealand on Wednesday afternoon to join search and rescue operations in the earthquake-hit country.
Japan is sending the team, made up mainly of firefighters and policemen, in response to a request from the New Zealand government.
Parliamentary Vice Foreign Minister Hisashi Tokunaga will head the team.
At a special cabinet meeting in the morning, Prime Minister Naoto Kan and other ministers confirmed the need to send the relief team under the nation's emergency international assistance law.
Kan asked government agencies to work even more closely.
The government decided not to include Self-Defense Forces officers in the team because main areas of the SDF's disaster relief activities have been basically limited to developing countries.
The government had once considered sending families of missing Japanese nationals to New Zealand together with the relief team on the same plane, but gave up the idea so the team members can get their work started as soon as possible, officials said.
The government will help those families enter New Zealand in other ways, they added.
The relief team will fly directly to Christchurch, which is close to the epicenter of the 6.3-manitude earthquake on Tuesday. It is expected to arrive there early Thursday.
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key on Wednesday declared a national state of emergency. Media reports said the death toll from the earthquake has risen to 75 with hundreds still missing.
Safety of more than 20 missing Japanese nationals, mostly students, in Christchurch has yet to be confirmed. The Japanese government estimates that nearly 3,000 Japanese were staying in the city and nearby areas at the time of the tremor.
Japan is sending the team, made up mainly of firefighters and policemen, in response to a request from the New Zealand government.
Parliamentary Vice Foreign Minister Hisashi Tokunaga will head the team.
At a special cabinet meeting in the morning, Prime Minister Naoto Kan and other ministers confirmed the need to send the relief team under the nation's emergency international assistance law.
Kan asked government agencies to work even more closely.
The government decided not to include Self-Defense Forces officers in the team because main areas of the SDF's disaster relief activities have been basically limited to developing countries.
The government had once considered sending families of missing Japanese nationals to New Zealand together with the relief team on the same plane, but gave up the idea so the team members can get their work started as soon as possible, officials said.
The government will help those families enter New Zealand in other ways, they added.
The relief team will fly directly to Christchurch, which is close to the epicenter of the 6.3-manitude earthquake on Tuesday. It is expected to arrive there early Thursday.
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key on Wednesday declared a national state of emergency. Media reports said the death toll from the earthquake has risen to 75 with hundreds still missing.
Safety of more than 20 missing Japanese nationals, mostly students, in Christchurch has yet to be confirmed. The Japanese government estimates that nearly 3,000 Japanese were staying in the city and nearby areas at the time of the tremor.
