Foreign aid gains pace as rain clouds threaten China quake zone

CHINA: More foreign help arrived in China on Sunday as forecasts of heavy rain threatened to pour more misery on survivors of the devastating earthquake that killed at least 60,000 people.

A Russian military transport plane touched down before dawn in Chengdu, capital of quake-hit Sichuan province, state media reports said, one of 12 Russian flights expected as China grapples to help the millions affected.

China has said 5.47 million people were made homeless by the May 12 quake and more than 11 million people were expected to be housed in camps as areas rendered unlivable were evacuated.

Amid growing concern over possible disease outbreaks in the makeshift camps, conditions looked set to worsen with rain showers forecast throughout the day, building to possible heavy downpours towards nightfall, according to state meteorologists. China has repeatedly issued international pleas for aid in heading off a post-disaster humanitarian crisis, and the pace of foreign aid began to pick up on Sunday.

Beside the Russian shipments of tents, blankets, field hospitals, and other items expected to total several hundred tonnes, a French medical team also was to arrive in the quake zone on Sunday.

The US Army had already flown in three cargo planes laden with tonnes of life-saving supplies over the past week, according to US officials, while the German Red Cross has set up a mobile hospital to treat the overflowing numbers of injured in the hard-hit town of Dujiangyan. Chengdu, Sunday, AFP