50 Member Relief Team To Myanmar To Remain For Up To 2 Weeks

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The relief team before taking off for Myanmar from the RMAF base in Subang today, accompanied by 33 tonnes of equipment, including two five-tonne trucks and medical supplies.
SHAH ALAM: The 50-member Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief team, which left for earthquake-stricken Myanmar today, is expected to remain there for between seven and 14 days.
Deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said this will depend on the needs of the country.
“We hope this assistance will expedite the search and rescue mission, which also involves teams from several other countries,” he said when seeing the team off at the Royal Malaysian Air Force base in Subang today.
Zahid said the team also brought along 33 tonnes of equipment, including two five-tonne trucks and medical supplies.

He said any additional deployment of team members will be planned and decided based on what is needed.
“We will discuss this with the (Myanmar) ambassador and seek the advice of the National Disaster Management Agency as well as Wisma Putra from time to time,” he said.
Zahid also said the government will consider an additional allowance for the team members who had sacrificed their Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebrations with their families to assist the earthquake victims in Myanmar.
This will be on top of the fixed allowances allocated through the existing standard operating procedures.
“We will consider this after discussing it with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim,” he said.
The foreign ministry said it is working alongside the Malaysian embassy in Yangon to coordinate arrangements and assist with operations on the ground.
A powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar at a depth of 10km on Friday, and was also felt in Thailand. A 6.4-magnitude aftershock occurred just minutes later.
A state of emergency was declared in the regions of Sagaing, Mandalay, Magway, Bago, Eastern Shan State as well as Myanmar’s capital, Naypyidaw, and Bangkok in Thailand.
Myanmar’s ruling junta said late yesterday that at least 1,644 people have been killed and more than 3,400 injured, with at least 139 more missing. - FMT

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