Asia-Pacific News
Taiwan sends rescue team to quake-stricken Haiti
Jan 13, 2010, 11:08 GMT
Taipei - Taiwan said it would send a team of rescue workers to Haiti Wednesday following the devastating earthquake in the Caribbean nation, according to officials.
'Our first team, made up of 23 rescuers and experts as well as two search dogs, is due to leave for Haiti later tonight,' said a spokesman of the National Fire Agency.
He said the team would report on what other relief assistance Haiti requires once they begin working on the island.
A second team of 32 experts and two search dogs is also ready to leave for Haiti, according to the Taipei City Fire Department.
Taiwan's Foreign Ministry set up an emergency response centre to coordinate assistance and relief work for Haiti, one of only 23 nations to have diplomatic relations with Taiwan.
Taiwan's two-storey embassy in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince was reported to have been completely destroyed in the quake. Ambassador Hsu Mien-sheng escaped with minor injury, ministry spokesman Henry Chen said.
One of the other Taiwanese diplomats at the embassy was still unaccounted for, Chen said.
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