PLA and APF troops plunge into Sichuan quake disaster rescue

BEIJING,April 21(ChinaMil)--After a 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit the southwestern Sichuan Province on the morning of April 20, the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) and the Chinese People's Armed Police Force (APF) troops spared no efforts to race against time to combat the disaster as an action of implementing the order of President Xi Jinping , who, also the Chairman of the Central Military Commission, ordered all-out measures to rescue victims and minimize casualties.

The PLA Navy sent yesterday a remote sensing plane to the quake-hit area in Ya'an of Sichuan to carry out remote sensing survey mission. The first batch of data obtained in the survey is being processed.

The PLA Air Force has completed 33 sorties of transport planes and helicopters for various rescue and relief actions. In addition, more than 1000 soldiers from the PLA air force units joined the ground rescue together with over 130 vehicles. Four landing aerodromes for planes to transport relief materials and evacuate the wounded opened by the Air Force at the county seat of Lushan and three towns of the county.

An army aviation brigade of the PLA Chengdu Military Area Command (MAC) has sent 15 helicopters for material transportation and the wounded evacuation missions. More than 30 helicopters of the brigade in rescue readiness are waiting for orders.

The State Emergency Medical Rescue Team made up of military medical workers from the APF General Hospital sent yesterday morning its first batch of 19 members to Sichuan and the second batch of 22 members rushed to the quake-hit Ya'an last night.

The PLA General Staff Headquarters on Saturday afternoon decided to equip a total of 260 sets of Beidou satellite positioning devices to the troop units engaged in rescue missions in the disaster area.

Upon orders of the PLA General Logistics Department, military hospitals near the quake-hit area including the 3rd Military Medical University, the Chengdu General Hospital of the Chengdu MAC, the No. 37 Hospital and the No. 42 Hospital dispatched a number of medical rescue teams composed of 260 military medical workers to the quake-jolted area to provide medical treatment for the wounded there.

The Logistics Engineering College under the PLA General Logistics Department sent an engineering support team to the disaster area yesterday.

The PLA General Logistics Department has allocated more than 200 tents, 20 electric generators as well as multiple sets of military water purification vehicles and military shower vehicles to the troop units in the disaster relief frontlines in Sichuan.

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