TOKYO — International efforts to help quake-struck Japan got into high gear Sunday with the arrival of U.S. and Chinese rescue teams, while the number of countries and world organizations offering aid has reached more than 70.
The Japanese Foreign Ministry said more than 150 members of the United States Agency for International Development arrived at Misawa Air Base in Aomori Prefecture on their way to conduct rescue operations in Ofunato, a severely damaged coastal city in neighboring Iwate Prefecture.
The U.S. squad, made up of experts in such fields as search and rescue, and medicine, will be divided into two teams in undertaking their operations alongside Tokyo Fire Department rescue workers, the ministry said. Each of the two teams has six rescue dogs.
Separately, the U.S. aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan reached the coast of northeastern Japan and launched relief operations Sunday in the region that was hardest hit by the powerful quake and tsunami.
Two helicopters on the nuclear-powered carrier, together with one from the Japanese Self-Defense Forces, began transporting some 30,000 portions of emergency food supplies.
The Americans flew in shortly after a 15-member Chinese rescue team arrived at Tokyo’s Haneda airport. Yutaka Banno, state secretary for foreign affairs, greeted at the airport the first such contingency team Beijing has dispatched to Japan.
Yin Guanghui, head of the Chinese team, said in response that the members will do their best to rescue as many people as possible.
The Chinese team, including seven rescue members and a doctor, have brought with them four tons of materials and equipment for search and rescue, power supply and telecommunications, according to Xinhua News Agency.
Earlier, rescue workers with search dogs from Germany and Switzerland arrived at Narita airport, as did three Christian-affiliated aid group members from Hungary. Rescue teams from Australia, New Zealand and Singapore are expected to follow. On Saturday, a South Korean rescue team and two search dogs arrived in Japan. The five-member team from South Korea’s National Emergency Management Agency was the first overseas rescue team to reach Japan.
The Japanese Foreign Ministry said the German and Swiss teams will head northeast for Minamisanriku in Miyagi Prefecture, where about 10,000 people, over half the town’s population, remain unaccounted for.
The German team comprises 40 members and three search dogs with around 15 tons of equipment and supplies, while the Swiss team consists of 25 members, including architects, and nine search dogs.
Ulf Langemeier, the 45-year-old head of the German team, said the team hopes to dispatch its members and search equipment to the damaged areas as soon as possible.
The ministry said on Sunday morning that Tokyo had received offers for support from 69 countries and regions along with five international organizations, including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the World Food Program.
