By Bernama,
Moscow : A transport plane of the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry delivered humanitarian aid to the quake-hit China, the Ministry’s information department told Itar-Tass on Wednesday.
“An Il-76 plane bringing tents, blankets and mattresses, weighing 30 tonnes arrived in the Chinese town of Chengdu at 11:00,Moscow time on Wednesday,” an emergency official said.
Russia became one of the first countries to provide humanitarian aid to China.
The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry announced it was ready to send rescuers from the Tsentrospas center, who have a tremendous experience in relief operations in quake-hit zone.
However, China is only receiving humanitarian aid at present.
President Dmitry Medvedev sent a telegram of condolences to China’s President Hu Jintao over the huge number of victims resulting from the quake in the southwest Sichuan Province and offered aid on Russia’s part.
The powerful quake has killed an estimated 12,000 people, while about 94,000 or so people are still trapped under the rubble of collapsed buildings.
The Chinese authorities have expressed gratitude to all the countries that have offered aid, including Russia.
Qin Gang, an official spokesman for the Foreign Ministry said in Beijing the government welcomed the readiness of foreign states and international organizations to provide aid and was ready to contact international agencies on the issue.
In the Sichuan province, 26,206 people were injured, and another 9,404 are under debris of collapsed buildings. The town of Mianyang and its suburbs were worst hit in the province, with 7,395 fatalities, including up to 5,000 dead in the neighboring district of Beichuan, where 80 percent of houses have been destroyed.
In the town of Deyang, 2,648 residents died, in Chengdu, the administrative center of the province – 959, and in the town of Guanyuan – 700 while in the province of Gansu, 206 people died, 2,179 were injured, and 21,000 were evacuated.
In the town of Longshan, 173 died, and 2,027 were injured. In the province of Shaanxi, 103 people died, 893 were injured, and 9 million were evacuated.
In the town of Chongqing, 11 people died. The provinces Yunnan, Henan and Hubei reported one fatality each.
Chinese experts believe these figures were likely to be revised upwards. The search for survivors and fatalities continues, and a number of settlements remain cut off from communications.