Rescue and emergency medical teams from different part of the world are rushing to Indonesia, one day after a deadly earthquake struck the country's Yogyakarta and Central Java provinces Saturday that killed more than 3,500 people.
A South Korean emergency medical team composed of 19 doctors, nurses and administrative officials left for Indonesia Sunday afternoon to help earthquake victims with relief goods worth 100, 000 U.S. dollars.
The South Korean Foreign Ministry said it is considering to dispatch extra medical and food supplies in coming days.
Neighboring Singapore on Sunday has sent two aid teams to Indonesia's central Java to help quake victims there. The two teams, a 35-member military medical team and a 43-member Singapore Civil Defense Force (SCDF) disaster assistance and rescue team, left Singapor Sunday morning in three military planes.
The SCDF team, which is carrying food, fuel and equipment to last two weeks, includes medical personnel and three search dogs.
According to Xinhua reporters at the quake-stricken areas, all hospitals in the southern Java province were overwhelmed with patients, with paramedics saying medical supplies were running out Sunday, a day after a powerful earthquake struck the region.
The 5.9-magnitude quake that struck the Indonesian ancient province of Yogyakarta and part of Central Java province Saturday morning killed more than 3,500 people and injured 10,000 more others.
"We normally can accommodate 370 patients, but on Saturday alone we treated more than 1,300 injured people," said Sugeng Amir Marwoto, spokesman for the Panti Rapih Hospital which is one of the biggest in Yogyakarta.
Most of hospitals let their patients rest outside hospitals for fear of aftershocks and the lack of beds. Doctors and medical volunteers treated patients in the grounds of hospitals.
Earlier, Malaysia said it had sent one ton of medicine and medical supplies and a team of paramedics as well as 56 personnel from Search and Rescue team to earthquake-hit Yogyakarta in Indonesia to help the quake victims there.
The Chinese government decided on Saturday to offer an urgent aid of 2 million U.S. dollars in cash for quake-hit Indonesia and will also offer rescue personnel and materials according to the situation of the disaster.
On Sunday, a Japanese medical team left Tokyo for Yogyakarta to join rescue efforts following the powerful earthquake.
The Philippines government said Sunday it will send a humanitarian team to Indonesia to join global relief efforts for victims of the earthquake.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said in a message of sympathy to the people of Indonesia that the deployment of a humanitarian mission is part of the Philippines' duty to come to the aid of disaster-stricken neighbors.
Meanwhile, the World Food Program was sending a plane with two tons of relief supplies and UNICEF is sending 9,000 tarpaulins, 2, 000 tents, health kits and hygiene kits.
Canada has committed 1.8 million dollars to assist victims of Saturday's devastating earthquake. "On behalf of all Canadians, I wish to extend our sympathies to the families and friends of those who lost their lives and to those communities hit by this dreadful act of nature," said Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay.
Australia will also send 3 million Australian dollars (2.27 million U.S. dollars) in emergency aid to victims of the latest Indonesian earthquake, the Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Sunday and the United States allocates 500,000 dollars for the earthquake victims.
The European Union on Saturday also granted up to 3 million euros (3.8 million dollars) in emergency aid to help Indonesia's quake victims.
Saturday's quake was the worst one in the Southeast Asian country since Dec. 26, 2004, when an earthquake triggered a tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people in countries surrounding the Indian Ocean.
Source: Xinhua