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Rescuers deploy in Japan, no major U.N. aid planned

by (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Click For Restrictions. http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp | Thomson Reuters Foundation
Monday, 14 March 2011 14:32 GMT

* 15 foreign search and rescue teams now deployed in Japan

* U.N. does not plan bigger relief operation unless asked

By Stephanie Nebehay

GENEVA, March 14 (Reuters) - Hundreds of foreign rescue workers are assisting quake and tsunami victims in Japan, but the United Nations does not plan to mount a bigger relief operation unless requested, U.N. aid officials said on Monday.

Fifteen teams, many equipped with search dogs and heavy lifting equipment, are now deployed in stricken northeast areas, with the largest from Russia, South Korea and the United States.

"United Nations action will be very targeted, according to needs. This is the most disaster-prepared country in the world," Elisabeth Byrs, spokeswoman of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told Reuters.

"Japan is responding to three emergencies -- the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear threat -- and is doing very well," she said.

Japan is scrambling to avert a meltdown at a stricken nuclear plant after an explosion at one reactor and exposure of fuel rods at another, days after the devastating earthquake and tsunami that killed at least 10,000 people. [ID:nL3E7EC0D6]

Millions in the tsunami-battered region north of Tokyo were without power and water in what Prime Minister Naoto Kan has dubbed his country's worst crisis since World War Two.

Seven U.N. disaster relief officials have been dispatched to the three affected provinces and are coordinating closely with local Japanese officials about needs, Byrs added.

U.S. warships, including the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, have arrived to ramp up relief efforts. [ID:nN13302608]

A 102-member South Korean rescue team departed for Japan on Monday aboard three air force C-130 cargo planes. They were bound for Fukushima, where the earthquake-stricken nuclear plant is located, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo.

The World Health Organisation, a U.N. agency, said there was little public health risk from the nuclear plant so far.

"As far as we understand, the amount of (leaked) radioactive material is minimal. Based on what we know, we believe the current public health risk is small," WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl told Reuters.

Environmental experts who form a specialised joint unit of OCHA and the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) are closely monitoring the nuclear crisis but have not been dispatched.

"They are on stand-by and ready to assist should Japan request assistance," OCHA's Byrs said.

China stands willing to give Japan more help, Premier Wen Jiabao said, expressing sympathy for the stricken country with which Beijing has often had icy relations. [ID:nTOE72D03M] He noted that Japan sent aid to China when it was hit by a quake in 2008 that killed more than 80,000 people.

Among other countries sending aid, Australia has sent rescuers and offered field hospitals, Thailand is sending clothing and 15,000 tonnes of rice, and Bangladesh has offered assistance including rescuers and a medical team. (Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Beijing and Anis Ahmed in Dhaka; Editing by Peter Graff) (For a FACTBOX on Aid and Rescue offers, click on [ID:nL3E7ED05G]

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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