Hong Kong rescue team presses on with search for Myanmar earthquake survivors
Death toll has exceeded 2,000, with 3,900 people injured and at least 270 more still missing
A Hong Kong rescue team searched through the rubble in Myanmar’s quake-hit Mandalay city overnight into Tuesday morning in a race against time to find survivors as the death toll from the disaster continued to climb.
Team members armed with blasting tools and other specialised equipment scoured areas near the Mandalay Palace, with an extra 11 rescuers joining them to help with the search, a spokesman for the Security Bureau said.
“The ... rescue team has started searches after arriving in Mandalay [on Monday]. After coordinating with other teams, they began to conduct on-site assessments and quick searches at multiple locations, carrying out rescue operations in Chan Aye Thar San and Mahar Aung Myay,” he said.
Hong Kong’s team consists of 41 firefighters, joined by police officers, doctors, nurses and search and rescue dogs.
In a video posted by the Fire Services Department on Tuesday morning, Acting Assistant Divisional Officer Rocky Ng Wai-nok explained that the team was using tools to blast concrete and cut through iron rods to open up space in the debris.
“We are also using an alarm stability protection device called Wasp to detect any further movements within the whole debris mass,” he said. “If movements are detected, it will emit alarm signals for our colleagues to evacuate.”