M'SIAN HUMANITARIAN AID TEAM FROM WEST SUMATERA ARRIVE HOME SAFELY

SUBANG JAYA (Malaysia), Oct 14 (Bernama) -- A team of 56 members involved in
the humanitarian aid mission to help victims of the Padang earthquake which
struck on Sept 30, returned home safely from West Sumatera, Indonesia Tuesday.

The team, comprising members of the National Security Council (2), Special
Malaysian Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (Smart) (25), Health Ministry (8),
Armed Forces Medical Team (17) and Malaysian Red Crescent Society (4), arrived
in five C-130 Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) carriers.

Joint Force commander Lt-Jen Allatif Mohd Noor said the 10-day operation
carried out by the team since Oct 3, was a success.

"The Smart team carried out search and rescue operations in four locations,
including Hotel Ambacang, Padang, while the medical team treated 3,790 victims,"
he told reporters when receiving the group at the Subang RMAF Base.

He added that the Malaysian medical team had also opened a clinic to give
outpatient treatment near Rumah Sakit Salasih in Kota Padang, as well as provide
mobile clinics to Pariaman and Mata Air.

Smart Operations Chief Capt Mohd Halimi Taib said the team was placed
together with rescue teams from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), New Zealand and
Japan under the United Nations flag.

"We did not face any problems when carrying out our search and rescue
operations because we had other teams in our area," he said.

He said about 37 buildings in Kota Padang were destroyed and it consumed a
lot of time to extricate the victims from the rubble.

Meanwhile, Clinical and Emergency Medicine specialist from Hospital Kuala
Lumpur, Dr Sazwan Reezal Shamsudin said they not only had to treat earthquake
victims, but also those involved in road accidents.

"We opened a clinic next to Rumah Sakit Salasih and handled all outpatient
cases, including road accident cases," he said.

"We treated about 300 patients a day at the clinic and another 200 at the
mobile clinics."
-- BERNAMA