Secretary for Security Ambrose Lee said on Wednesday that the
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government will
send a 120-member team to Thailand to assist in the safe return of
Hong Kong travelers stranded by Sunday's killer tsunami.
Lee said at a press conference that the team includes
Immigration Department staff, police and medical workers. Three
health care workers and 19 immigration officers departed on
Wednesday and the remainder of the team was scheduled to fly out on
Thursday.
He said the HKSAR government is establishing a command post at
the Thai resort of Phuket to coordinate assistance for tourists who
were visiting Thailand when the massive waves crashed into the
coast on December 26. Aid centers will also be set up in Phuket and
Bangkok.
As of 1:00 PM Wednesday, a total of 388 Hong Kong residents had
not been accounted for, 325 of them tourists who were known to be
visiting Phuket. Another?14 were missing in Sri Lanka, seven
in Malaysia, six in the Maldives and the remainder in other
countries.
"We have deployed a huge amount of manpower to do the search
since seeing the enormous number of residents who have not yet
contacted their families or us," Lee said.
Some 664 Hong Kong residents were accounted for but stranded in
South and Southeast Asian countries.
On the mainland, following a Wednesday night meeting between
leading officials from several ministries China decided to increase
substantially its emergency aid to the tsunami-hit countries.
Foreign Minister Li
Zhaoxing presided over the meeting that included leading
officials?of the ministries of finance, commerce and health,
the China Seismological Bureau and People's Liberation Army.
They decided to set up a 100-member medical treatment team that
will be prepared to leave within 24 hours of notification. A field
hospital and the search-and-rescue group of China's international
rescue team are prepared to leave and are currently on standby.
The Ministry of
Commerce will head the effort to get additional relief supplies
to the overwhelmed Indian Ocean countries.
Meanwhile, Chinese experts continue to join the rescue teams of
international organizations such as the World Health
Organization.
President Hu Jintao
and Premier Wen
Jiabao have been closely monitoring the situation in the
disaster-hit countries and urging the Foreign Ministry to make
every effort to assist.
(Xinhua News Agency December 30, 2004)