China team offers medical service to 2,500 in quake-hit Haiti

BEIJING, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- China's rescue team in Haiti has so far rescued and offered medical treatment to more than 2,500 people in quake-ravaged Port-au-Prince, according to China Earthquake Administration (CEA).

More than 500 of those patients had been critically injured, the administration said in a statement posted on its website.

The China International Search and Rescue Team (CISAR) had shifted the focus of its mission in the Caribbean country to providing health services and disease prevention, it said.

The 60-member team sprayed disinfectant in areas where quake-affected people gathered in Port-au-Prince, and had set up a small mobile hospital near Haiti's presidential office on Jan. 19 .

They were also providing immunization and health education as well as psychological counseling for local people, the statement said.

Since their arrival in Haiti on Jan. 14, the team has carried out search and rescue operations at the headquarters of MINUSTAH (the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti), the prime minister's palace and other places.

A total of 15 bodies were found by the team, including those of Special Representative Hedi Annabi of MINUSTAH and other UN staff.

More than 50,000 people are believed to have died in Haiti's 7.3-magnitude quake that struck the island country on Jan. 12.

Liu Zhenmin, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, announced Thursday that the country would contribute an additional 2.6 million U.S. dollars in cash to Haiti and would send a 40-member medical care and epidemic prevention team to the Caribbean island.

The new contribution followed a donation from the Red Cross Society of China of 1 million U.S. dollars in cash to Haiti on Jan. 13, and a decision by the Chinese government to provide 30 million yuan (4.4 million U.S. dollars) worth of humanitarian emergency supplies on Jan. 15.