The Taipei City Fire Department said on Sunday that its disaster response team is ready to leave for Nepal to help with search and rescue efforts. That’s following a magnitude-7.8 earthquake which rocked the country on Saturday.
The municipal fire department said the 20-member Taipei City Urban Search and Rescue team is ready to leave for Nepal as soon as it receives notification from the central government's National Fire Agency. It is ready to head to Pokhara, which is Nepal's second-largest city, located northwest of Kathmandu.
The team is the first of its kind in Taiwan to focus on urban relief work. It was established following the 921 earthquake, which struck central Taiwan in 1999, killing more than 2,400 people.
The team has carried out several search and rescue missions at home and abroad since its formation. It has helped with rescue efforts in El Salvador (2001); Iran (2003); Indonesia (2004); Sichuan Province, China (2008); and Haiti (2010).
The team is equipped with two tons of relief equipment and medication to help with post-earthquake search and rescue efforts in Nepal.