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PADANG - The United Nations' humanitarian chief and Japan's foreign minister visited quake-hit areas of Indonesia's Sumatra island Wednesday to inspect relief efforts.
UN humanitarian chief John Holmes landed in the devastated city of Padang to meet NGOs and local government heads to discuss the international response to the huge 7.6-magnitude quake, the UN's humanitarian head for Indonesia, Ignacio Leon, told AFP.
"The idea is to see how the international community can support the government of Indonesia, in general to evaluate the situation and to have contact with the different authorities," Leon said.
Holmes flew by helicopter to inspect Red Cross relief efforts in remote villages outside of Padang, where quake-triggered landslides obliterated entire hamlets and buried hundreds, he said.
Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada also arrived in the quake zone for a trip to visit Japanese medical teams in devastated areas north of Padang, Japanese embassy spokesman Masaki Tani said.
Okada on Tuesday expressed his "sympathies" for the victims of the September 30 quake after meeting with Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda.
"For the long term, better infrastructure is needed. We are considering the idea of rebuilding schools and hospitals but we need to know what is really needed on the ground," he said, without giving further details.
Japan sent specialist rescue teams, aid and members of its defence force to help deal with the disaster, which the UN has said likely killed more than 1,100 people. - AFP/vm
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