Int'l community intensifies relief efforts
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The world community has been intensifying relief efforts in Haiti in the past two days after a devastating quake hit the Caribbean nation on Tuesday.
On Saturday, a Boeing-747 jumbo jet carrying 90 tons of emergency humanitarian supplies provided by China took off from the Beijing Capital International Airport to quake-ravaged Haiti.
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United Nations peacekeepers distribute bottles of water to locals in Haitian capital Port-au-Prince on Jan. 16, 2010. International rescuers are rushing to Haiti following a devastating earthquake on Jan. 12. [Xinhua] |
The 13 million yuan (1.9 million U.S. dollars) worth of quake relief items included tents, stretchers, food, medicines, clothing and water purification equipment.
The aid is part of a relief package worth 30 million yuan (4.41million dollars) the Chinese government announced Friday.
On Saturday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was "deeply saddened to confirm the tragic death" of his special representative to Haiti Hedi Annabi, and Annabi's deputy Luiz Carlos da Costa.
"In every sense of the word, they gave their lives for peace," Ban said in a statement.
Annabi "was a true citizen of the world. The United Nations was his life and he ranked amongst its most dedicated and committed sons," Ban said. "He was passionate about its mission and its people."
Annabi, a Tunisian national who was head of the UN Stability Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), was found dead in debris in the quake-destroyed UN headquarters in Port-au-Prince by Chinese rescuers.
U.S. President Barack Obama invited two of his predecessors, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, to help raise relief funds for Haiti.
