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16 April 2002 by Juja Kim, Republic of Korea National Red Cross Less than an hour after an Air China airplane with 166 people on board crashed near the South Korean city of Gimhae just before noon yesterday, Monday 15 April, 153 trained Korean National Red Cross (KNRC) volunteers were at the crash site to assist government emergency teams in the rescue efforts. The KNRC teams, led by eleven staff members from the local chapters in Pusan and Kyungnam, are trained in direct involvement in first aid, wireless radio communications and rescue work. Along with the volunteers, the Red Cross also sent three mobile kitchens, blankets, body bags, stretchers, tents, wireless radios and nearly 100 raincoats. The Air China flight from Beijing to the South Korean city of Pusan, the country's second largest, crashed into a mountain near the city of Gimhae in rain and heavy fog. Miraculously, 39 people survived, but 119 people have been confirmed dead and another nine are still listed as missing. The passengers were mainly Koreans returning from holidays in China. Survivors were transferred to hospitals in Pusan and Gimhae for medical treatment. The Red Cross teams provided meals for rescue workers, firefighters and soldiers involved in assisting the 39 survivors – as well as the grim task of retrieving 119 bodies from the wreck of the crashed airplane. Other volunteers focused on providing first aid to victims, identifying dead bodies, and transferring victims, a task not made easy by the steep rocky terrain. The Korean government has announced that it is in close contact with Chinese authorities to handle the tragic accident effectively while rescue work is continuing to find the nine missing people. The provision of meals for rescue workers by the Red Cross will continue until the operation, coordinated by provincial authorities, is ended. Gimhae city officials have also opened a special office at which family members could receive regular briefings on the accident as well as passenger information, e.g. names and numbers of deaths, survivors, etc. At the central government level, the Construction and Transportation Ministry established an emergency task force in the wake of the crash headed by Minister Lim In-Taik. Meanwhile, an assessment team composed of 57 officials from the Chinese government and China Airlines arrived in Pusan on Monday night. In concert with Korean officials, they will investigate the exact cause of the crash. |
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