Myanmar leader expresses appreciation to China's Yunnan Rescue Medical Team

NAY PYI TAW/KUNMING -- Myanmar's State Administration Council Chairman Senior General Min Aung Hlaing on Sunday extended his appreciation to members of China's Yunnan Rescue Medical Team for their timely assistance after a strong earthquake hit Myanmar Friday.

The Myanmar leader visited Ottara Thiri Private Hospital in Nay Pyi Taw, the Myanmar capital, on Sunday and thanked the Chinese rescue team, who rushed to the impact area in the first time for relief efforts.

The Chinese rescue team from Yunnan province in Southwest China, joined by Myanmar's rescue forces, retrieved an elderly man in the earthquake-hit Nay Pyi Taw at 05:00 local time on Sunday.

The man had been trapped for nearly 40 hours under the rubble of the hospital in the city. After an emergency rescue operation overnight, the person was the first survivor rescued by the Chinese team after they arrived in the earthquake-stricken area of Myanmar on Saturday.

The 37-member Chinese team carried full-function life detectors, earthquake early warning systems, portable satellite phones, drones and other rescue equipment in their rescue operations.

A 7.9-magnitude earthquake hit the Southeast Asian country on Friday. Several Chinese rescue teams have joined the relief efforts with their Myanmar counterparts.