Taiwanese donations to relief efforts for earthquake-hit Nepal have reached NT$47.61 million (US$1.55 million), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, two weeks after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake devastated large areas of the Himalayan nation.
The donations include US$300,000 from the government and 20,000 euros (US$22,445) from Taiwan’s representative office in the Vatican, the ministry said.
Other funds were collected from private groups and individuals via accounts set up by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and Taiwan’s Red Cross Society, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, ading that donations continued to flow in.
In addition to monetary donations, more than 190 people in 14 teams from Taiwan — including government officials and members of several charities, religious groups and hospitals — have so far been dispatched to assist with rescue efforts, help care for survivors and deliver relief supplies, the ministry said.
Taiwan has also collected 47 tonnes of relief supplies, such as dried foods, blankets and tents, for Nepalese earthquake survivors, a move the Nepalese government and its people have expressed gratitude for, the ministry said.
Taiwan offered its assistance as international aid operations flew into Nepal to help the survivors in the wake of the devastating temblor.
The earthquake, the worst to strike Nepal since 1934, occurred approximately 80km northwest of the nation’s capital, Kathmandu, on April 25, the US Geological Survey said.
It destroyed buildings in Kathmandu and severely affected rural areas across the region. The death toll has surpassed 7,000, with more than 14,000 have been injured, foreign media outlets reported.
The number of Taiwanese nationals known to have been in Nepal at the time of the earthquake was 250, 249 of whom were confirmed safe, according to yesterday’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs update.
There is still one Taiwanese with whom the ministry has yet to make contact. The ministry said that it is still trying to locate the person via various channels.
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