Chinese helicopters aid Nepal quake recovery

GYIRONG, Tibet, May 6 (Xinhua) -- China on Wednesday sent three military helicopters to Nepal to help with the country's earthquake rescue missions.

The choppers carrying more than 20 people flew from Gyirong County in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region to Kathmandu, the Nepalese capital, on Wednesday morning and returned in the afternoon.

Their missions helping with local transportation and rescue might continue for days, said an official with the Chengdu Military Area Command, to which the three helicopters belong.

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday pledged continued help in Nepal's post-earthquake reconstruction.

Some 360 tonnes of relief materials were due to be sent to Nepal on Wednesday afternoon and to arrive within four days. A hundred tonnes of materials from China's military arrived in Nepal on Saturday and Sunday.

China has sent seven medical and rescue teams. By Sunday, the three medical teams had diagnosed 2,234 people, treated 969 people and trained 714 medical staff.

The death toll of the devastating earthquake on April 25 has climbed to 7,652 in Nepal. Tibet, which borders Nepal, has also reported 26 deaths.