A 51-member rescue team sent by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government is collaborating with the Chinese national rescue team to participate in rescue work in Mandalay, Myanmar, the city’s security bureau has said.
After an overnight trip from Naypyidaw, the Hong Kong rescue team arrived at noon on Monday in Mandalay, a city close to the epicenter of the 7.9 magnitude quake that struck the Southeast Asian country on Friday.
The powerful earthquake shook central Myanmar and was felt in Southwest China and Thailand. One Chinese citizen was among the approximately 1,700 people to have been confirmed killed as of Monday noon; countless other people are still buried.
READ MORE: HK sends rescue team to quake-hit Myanmar
The team, led by Deputy Chief Fire Officer Cheu Yu-kok from the Fire Services Department (FSD), joined with the national rescue team upon its arrival in Mandalay and was briefed on the local disaster situation.
Members of the team saw many collapsed houses along the way, with victims having set up temporary tents in open spaces, the Security Bureau said in a social media post.
Hong Kong rescuers will set up an operations base next to the base of the national team and collaborate with their mainland counterparts to carry out search and rescue operations in different areas of the city, the bureau said.
The Hong Kong rescue team consists of firefighters, paramedics and technical specialists from the FSD, the Security Bureau, the Immigration Department and the Hospital Authority. Some members of the rescue team participated in the rescue operations following the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck in Turkiye in February 2023, bringing extensive disaster response expertise.
ALSO READ: HKSAR govt sets aside HK$30m to help Myanmar quake victims
Accompanying the team are two search dogs, Umi and Twix, which also contributed significantly during the Turkiye mission, locating multiple survivors — including a child trapped under rubble — and providing critical leads for rescue efforts.
The team has with it equipment weighing about nine metric tons — including detectors, masonry cutting machines and an automatic satellite tracking antenna system — and traveled from Yangon International Airport on Saturday afternoon, reaching Myanmar’s capital, Naypyidaw, on Sunday.
After a brief stop at the Myanmar National Centre for Disease Control and Medical Training Centre, the team met with diplomats from the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar.
The original plan had been for the team to begin search and assessment work in Naypyidaw, but it was later redirected to Mandalay by Myanmar’s authorities due to the severity of the damage there. The drive, which would usually take four to five hours, took the team the whole night because of road curfews in the evening.
READ MORE: China's first batch of relief material arrives in Myanmar
One rescue team member from the Hospital Authority told China’s state broadcaster, CCTV, that the support team includes two doctors and two nurses, equipped with medical supplies such as ventilators and blood pressure monitors to handle emergencies.
An FSD assistant divisional officer said that upon learning of the earthquake, the team had swiftly mobilized personnel and equipment. Their equipment includes life-detection radar, drones, omnidirectional cameras, and demolition tools to enhance search-and-rescue precision.
