Turkey to send rescue team to quake-hit Japan

ANKARA. March 17. KAZINFORM Turkey said Thursday that it will send a 33-member rescue team to Japan to help the country grapple with the triple disaster of a 9.0-magnitude earthquake, the ensuing tsunami and an ongoing nuclear crisis. Kazinform refers to Xinhua.

The team will depart from the Turkish city of Istanbul on Friday afternoon for Tokyo upon the request of the Japanese government, the Prime Ministry said on its website.

The crew will include 24 rescuers dispatched from the cities of Istanbul and Bursa, technicians, medical, nuclear and disaster experts as well as a guide from the Japanese embassy in Turkey, the ministry said.

The members have received special training at a nuclear research center in Istanbul, it said. Kazinform cites Xinhua. See www.xinhuanet.com