After it completed its work at the ruins of the UN headquarters in Haiti after 60 hours, a group from the China International Search and Rescue Team has departed for the Carrefour area of Port-au-Prince. The remaining rescuers were offering medical assistance close to the Haitian prime minister's office building .
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has expressed gratitude to the efforts of the Chinese International Rescue Team during his visit to Haiti.
"I am here for United Nations and international community to thank Chinese rescue-and-search team who has come here very early for helping retrieve the remains of special representative Hedi Annabi … Thanks for your very noble and hard works. Xie Xie."
In addition, a Boeing 747 cargo plane loaded the first batch of China's humanitarian aid has arrived in Haiti. CRI's correspondent in Haiti Guo Yuxiang explains. "Altogether 90 tons of emergency materials reached the city. The materials are worth 13 million yuan and include medicine, food, tents, clothing, water purification equipment and emergency lights."
The aid is part of a relief package worth 30 million yuan, or about 4.4 million U.S. dollars, announced by the Chinese government.
The chartered China Southern Airlines plane will then bring home the bodies of eight Chinese police officers who died in the Haiti quake. Of the victims, four were officers of China's peacekeeping force in Haiti, and the rest were part of a team sent by the Chinese Ministry of Public Security to Port-au-Prince for peacekeeping consultations.
Meanwhile, the Chinese government says it will help evacuate Chinese people in Haiti as quickly as possible.
Wei Wei is director of Foreign Ministry's Consular Department.
"In addition to people sent by the government, over ten Chinese from the mainland and some 30 Taiwan compatriots are still in Haiti. Relevant Chinese organizations in Haiti have provided consular protection to some who made requests including Taiwan compatriots."
