A 13-member medical team from Shanghai took off early Wednesday morning with 7.45 tons of supplies, heading to the epicenter at Dingri county of Shigatse in the Xizang autonomous region to assist with quake rescue efforts following the deadly 6.8-magnitude earthquake on Tuesday.

Departing from the Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport on a China Eastern Airlines' flight at 7 am, the team consists of 13 experts and medical workers from the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission, Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Huashan Hospital Affiliated with Fudan University. They are specialized in orthopedics, intensive care, anesthesiology and neurosurgery, and are set to treat injured persons upon arrival.

Shanghai has been providing paired-up assistance for Shigatse since 1995 and is making prompt responses in offering timely and efficient aid to the region after the earthquake.

Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines opened a special green channel on Tuesday night for the rescue team and disaster-relief supplies including cotton clothes, quilts, jackets and sleeping bags. Also, to ensure efficient transportation, the company swiftly changed the planned narrow-body aircraft to a wide-body aircraft with a larger capacity to operate the flight.

Apart from the rescue team, another batch of 36 medical cadres, previously sent to Xizang from Shanghai, will also gather at five counties in the devastated area for aid within two days, said Peng Yihao, deputy Party secretary and executive vice-mayor of Shigatse, on Tuesday evening.

The earthquake occurred in Dingri county at 9:05 am on Tuesday at a depth of 10 kilometers. It was reported to have claimed 126 lives and injured 188 people by 7 pm on the same day.