Local rescuers deployed in China
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| Photos by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS |
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Red Deer rescuers headed for China / ADVOCATE EXCLUSIVE
Red Deer Advocate
May 14, 2008
2008-05-14 14:36:12.0
Red Deer searchers specializing in earthquake rescues were being deployed on Thursday to southwestern China.
Bev Sliger, an official with Red Deer Search and Rescue, said on Thursday that the five men and three women landed safely in Hong Kong and were quickly issued visas by a Chinese government desperate to find thousands of people trapped in collapsed buildings resulting from a devastating earthquake.
Sliger, a past president with the local group, said the Red Deer rescuers were being sent to an undisclosed area near Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province.
She said another Red Deer searcher may join them and possibly a second member may fly to Asia soon, as well.
They are all members of Red Deer Search and Rescue but undertook the venture on their own through a recent co-operative agreement with a Nova Scotia-based rescue group called American Rescue Team International.
China was hit by a magnitude 7.9 quake on Monday. It has killed about 20,000 people and left tens of thousands homeless.
The Chinese government said on Thursday that the death toll could grow to about 50,000.
The government also said about 26,000 people remain missing or trapped in collapsed buildings.
Sliger has been in contact with the Red Deer group through text messages and e-mail.
“They’re going out today (Thursday) and what happens with communication once they get there I don’t know,” Sliger said.
She also said the Red Deer group has hooked up with a rescue team from the United Kingdom.
“They are being treated like royalty by the Chinese, which I think for a communist country is an amazing thing,” Sliger said.
She believes the Chinese have an adequate supply of trained rescue people but the task of searching and climbing through rubble and collapsed buildings is draining.
“It’s exhausting work both mentally and physically so they need rest,” Sliger said.
The names of the Red Deer people can’t be released at this time because Sliger said she hasn’t received permission from them yet.
The Red Deer group could return home in about 10 days.
Fares to Asia were paid for by the tourist bureau branch of the Chinese government.
Contact Jack Wilson at jwilson@reddeeradvocate.com
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