HK mounts biggest-ever aid effort for China quake
Posted: 14 May 2008 1601 hrs

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HONG KONG: Hong Kong has mounted its biggest-ever aid drive for the victims of China's devastating earthquake, with the government Wednesday approving 45 million US dollars for the relief effort.

The southern Chinese territory's pledge of 350 million Hong Kong dollars, agreed in an emergency meeting Wednesday, makes up the lion's share of the total amount pledged worldwide as offers of aid flood in.

Relief organisations in the southern Chinese territory, already stretched by the Myanmar cyclone disaster, also rushed to get aid to the disaster zone, while Hong Kong charities donated millions more dollars.

Well over 20,000 people are dead after 7.9-magnitude quake struck Monday in southwestern Sichuan province, all but wiping out entire towns, and the toll is soaring as news trickles in from isolated communities in the disaster zone.

Hong Kong has 20 medical and fire experts waiting to go to Sichuan, local media reported, while the Hong Kong Red Cross said it already had a large team deployed at the quake's epicentre.

"The team is in a very tricky situation," a Red Cross spokesman told AFP. "There is no electricity, no water, and the communication network has collapsed, making it extremely difficult for them to assess the impact of the catastrophe."

Simon Wong of charity the Salvation Army said the quake forced him to abandon plans to travel to Myanmar.

"We have never experienced this before -- two disasters of such massive scale being so close to each other in time and space. Our manpower is stretched to the full," he said.

"The impact of the quake is a lot more widespread than what many people think. We believe there are more counties and villages in Sichuan affected but that have not yet been found."

Salvation Army workers headed for Sichuan have arrived in the neighbouring province of Yunnan, but were advised not to travel further until roads to the disaster zone were unblocked, he said.

The Hong Kong government and five charities working in Sichuan are launching a public appeal for funds to help the quake's victims, and major charities and businesses here also pledged money.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club and the Li Ka Shing Foundation, founded by the Hong Kong tycoon, have each donated 30 million Hong Kong dollars.

And the Hong Kong Bank Foundation, the charity arm of HSBC, pledged 10 million yuan (1.28 million US dollars). - AFP/ac