RI TO SEND DISASTER RESPONSE TEAM TO HAITI

Jakarta, Jan 14 (ANTARA) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has instructed the National Disaster Management's Quick Response Unit (SRC-PB) to send a team to Haiti to help victims of the powerful earthquake that hit the Carribean country last Tuesday (Jan 12).

"I have instructed SRC-PB personnel to leave for Haiti to help in the evacuation of victims of the earthquake," Yudhoyono said here on Thursday.

The chief of the National Disaster Management Board (BNPB), Syamsu Maarif, said an SPC-PB team was now being prepared to leave for Haiti.

"I will hold a meeting today to discuss the SRC-PB team's schedule. It will leave for Haiti on Friday (Jan 15)," he said.

An earthquake measuring 7 on the Richter scale struck Haiti last Tuesday (Jan 12) at 16.53 local time or 04.53 west Indonesia standard time (WIB). Thousands of people are believed to be still trapped inside collapsed buildings and houses following the temblor.

A spokesperson for the International Red Cross, Paul Conneally, estimated three million people had experienced the impact of the temblor. Related authorities are still searching for and evacuating survivors from the collapsed buildings.