The Chinese Red Cross International Emergency Response Team that arrived in Mandalay, Myanmar early Monday have engaged in search and rescue operation in the quake-hit city.
Mandalay, the second-largest city in Myanmar, was hard hit by a 7.9-magnitude earthquake that jolted the Southeast Asian country Friday.
The search and rescue team was organized under the coordination of China's Ministry of Emergency Management and the Red Cross Society of China.
The team will carry out earthquake relief efforts in the quake-stricken Mandalay, including structure demolition, search and rescue operations, medical transport, healthcare assistance, and psychological counseling service.
The rescuers are racing against time to search for possible survivors in the rubble of a four-story building, which housed 20 residents before the earthquake. According to local rescuers, two of the 20 people were likely to be buried under the collapsed building.
With the assistance of life detectors, the rescuers found some sign of life and then began to establish a channel through the rubble for further detection of possible survivors.
As of 12:00 local time on Monday, the earthquake has left at least 2,056 people dead, 3,900 injured, and 270 missing, according to Myanmar's State Administration Council.
As of Monday morning, 36 aftershocks, with magnitudes ranging from 2.8 to 7.5, have been recorded following the earthquake, said Myanmar's Department of Meteorology and Hydrology on Monday.
Chinese Red Cross team begin search-rescue operations in quake-hit Mandalay
