Taiwanese disaster medical aid team arrives in quake-hit Japan town

KANAZAWA (Japan): A Taiwanese medical team arrived in the Japanese town of Suzu late Thursday night to join the disaster relief efforts, in the wake of a powerful earthquake that struck the western coast of the country on Jan 1, killing scores of people and leaving many others trapped in the rubble of toppled buildings.

The four-member team from the Taiwan Development Association for Disaster Medical Teams (TDADMT) was the first Taiwanese non-governmental organisation to arrive in Suzu, a coastal town of just over 5,000 residences, near the epicentre of the magnitude 7.6 quake, Taiwan’s Central News Agency (CNA) reported according to TDADMT Deputy Secretary-General Wang Wei-te.

The Taiwanese team, working under the leadership of Japan’s civil Airborne Rescue & Relief Operations With Search (ARROWS), flew by helicopter to isolated disaster areas of Suzu on Friday to evaluate the medical needs of the people there, Wang said.

The TDADMT said it sent the emergency team to Japan after consultations with the Peace Winds Japan (PWJ) and ARROWS about the current situation in the disaster areas and what medical assistance was needed.

ARROWS, an NGO established by PWJ, has been providing onsite support for the national command center and medical services at the emergency shelters, since the quake struck western Japan on Jan 1.

As of Saturday, the death toll was reported at around 100, and at least 211 others remained unaccounted for, as rescue teams continued to search the rubble of the many collapsed building and roads, according to international news reports.

Currently, there are about 11,000 people in Suzu, where 53 emergency shelters have been set up and numerous NGOs are working to help the people.

Taiwan and Japan’s civil organisations have maintained close links over the years, with the TDADMT and ARROWS signing a memorandum of understanding in 2018 for mutual support in training and disaster relief.

In December 2023, just a couple of weeks before the earthquake struck Japan, the TDADMT sent a 16-member team to Japan for training in areas such as medical evacuation via helicopter in snowy weather, according to Wang. - Bernama, CNA