Japan to send 100 rescue workers to Taiwan

Tokyo (dpa) - Japan said Tuesday it will send a total of 100 rescue workers to Taiwan, where a powerful overnight earthquake has killed more than 1,000 people and left thousands buried under rubble.

The Japanese government said that first 70 workers, including firefighters, police, and officials from the Maritime Safety Agency, will leave Tokyo this evening and the rest will leave Wednesday.

Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi expressed his condolences Tuesday to the victims of the tremor that hit the centre of the island, Taiwan's worst this decade.

The government was planning to ''extend aid on a humanitarian basis'' to Taiwan, with which Japan has no diplomatic ties.

''There are a lot of people at this moment who are trapped between life and death under the rubble of collapsed houses and buildings,'' Obuchi said.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka said Taiwan had given support to Japan after the 1995 Kobe earthquake, which killed more than 6,300 people. dpa ck jh

Copyright (c) 1999 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH
Received by NewsEdge Insight: 09/21/1999 03:59:14