Taiwan, HK join rescue effort

Rescue teams from Hong Kong and Taiwan have joined the search and rescue efforts. And Taiwan's China Airlines has sent a plane loaded with relief supplies to the stricken area of Sichuan.

On Thursday evening, the chartered flight arrived  in Chengdu loaded with relief materials from Taiwan.  It carried more than 100 tons of blankets, tents,  clothes, first aid packages and other materials  donated by charities in Taiwan.(CCTV.com)

On Thursday evening, the chartered flight arrived in Chengdu loaded with relief materials from Taiwan. It carried more than 100 tons of blankets, tents, clothes, first aid packages and other materials donated by charities in Taiwan.

Han Liang-zhong, senior rep. of Mainland Branch, Taiwan's China Airlines, said, "I think everyone in Taiwan is really concerned about the earthquake. So our China Airlines President has responded quickly to arrange a charter cargo plane and spoke with the charity groups to gather the goods. After the supplies were collected, we responded within 2 days to organize the delivery."

China Airlines' pilots gave up their leave, and joined in the rescue efforts as volunteers.

Wang Wei, pilot of Taiwan's China Airlines, said, "Every news station has been broadcasting the disaster 24 hours a day. We saw Premier Wen Jiabao in Sichuan and were really touched and we all really want to help."

A rescue team from the Taiwan Red Cross arrived in Chengdu on Friday evening. The team, with 22 rescuers and one sniffer dog rushed to the disaster zone.

Hong Kong's second search and rescue team also arrived in Chengdu on Friday. This 20-member team includes 17 firefighters and 3 medical workers. The first team from Hong Kong arrived a day earlier, bringing advanced rescue equipment.