New Zealand Sends Urban Search And Rescue Team To Quake-Hit Nepal

New Zealand will be sending its 37-member urban search and rescue team to join the ongoing international humanitarian effort after the earthquake in Nepal. The team will be part of coordinated rescue operations of the United Nations in the wake of the devastating quake.

The New Zealand team will be leaving from Auckland in a commercial aircraft bound for Singapore before taking another flight to Kathmandu. The group is composed of 10 search and rescue experts, two paramedics, a doctor, engineer, logistics staff and command and IT support staff.

It will take about 12 tonnes of equipment so the search and rescue team can be fully efficient. Paul Baxter, New Zealand Fire Service Chief Executive and National Commander, said the deployment of the search and rescue personnel were supposed to be only for two weeks but it could be prolonged if necessary.

Baxter added that New Zealand was one of the 22 countries that are sending teams to aid in the rescue efforts. A UN coordinating team will be waiting for New Zealand’s group in Kathmandu to give instructions. The urban search and rescue teams will be assigned a particular part of the Kathmandu Valley, reports New Zealand Herald.

The fire service chief said the deployment of team was timely since it had received accreditation from the UN as a “heavy capacity” urban search and rescue team. He said New Zealand is in a position to pull its weight in the international scene.

“It’s also gratifying that we can make a contribution to what is a desperate humanitarian situation,” said Baxter. The New Zealand team was assembled from various USAR units in Auckland, Christchurch and Palmerston North.

Meanwhile, about 180 New Zealanders in Nepal were all accounted for as confirmed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. A spokesperson for the ministry said the Kiwis in Nepal had no particular concerns.

“Given the scale of this disaster and the fact that communications remain intermittent, it may take time to account for all the New Zealanders in the affected area,” said the MFAT spokesperson. Earlier reports have indicated that operating conditions on the ground have remained difficult.

The New York Times reports that Nepalese authorities have raised the death toll to more than 3,200 but the full extent of the devastation still remained unclear. Aside from New Zealand, the United States, India, China and Australia were among the countries involved in the relief effort.

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