Two Chinese Tugboats Sent to Plane Crash Site

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, May 27, 2002

Two Chinese Tugboats Sent to Plane Crash Site

The maritime rescue centre under the Ministry of Communications Sunday sent two salvage ships to help with rescue work in the Taiwan Straits, at the request of Taiwan's rescue centre.

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China's Communications Ministry Sunday afternoon sent two powerful tugboats to the vicinity of the site where a China Airlines Boeing 747-200 passenger jet crashed Saturday.

The tugboats left at 2:42 p.m. from Fujian, an eastern province facing Taiwan, and will conduct salvage operations in areas to the west of the central line of the Taiwan Straits.

The Chinese Maritime Salvage Center made a report to the state's Communications Ministry immediately after it received information that the plane, carrying 225 passengers and crew, disappeared from the radar screen.

Later, the center also made contact with the Taiwan authorities, offering aid. Meanwhile, another four vessels on duty in Xiamen, Shantou and the estuary of the Pearl River are standing by to join the rescue work.Wang Daohan, president of the Association for Relations across the Taiwan Straits, on Saturday expressed deep concern and condolences over the China Airlines crash.

In a letter to the Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation, the association said that it was shocked to learn the crash, which had caused "enormous loss of life and property to Taiwan compatriots."

The association asked the foundation to convey the association's deep condolences over the victims from Taiwan and its sincere sympathy to their families.

The letter said that relevant departments on the mainland were ready to provide assistance whenever the Taiwan side felt this necessary.

In a letter to the association, the foundation said it was willing to help the mainland victims' families visit Taiwan if they wished.

An official from the China Airlines Hong Kong office said that the company had contacted 35 relatives of the nine mainland victims through the help of the association.

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