China's Yunnan rescue team completes quake response in Myanmar

A rescue and medical team from Yunnan Province arrives at the Kunming Changshui International Airport in Kunming, southwest China's Yunnan Province, April 6, 2025. The team returned from Myanmar on Sunday afternoon, after completing their earthquake relief work. (Xinhua/Gao Yongwei)

KUNMING, April 6 (Xinhua) -- A 37-member rescue and medical team from southwest China's Yunnan Province returned from Myanmar on Sunday afternoon, after completing their earthquake relief work.

A 7.9-magnitude quake struck Myanmar on March 28. At around 6:30 a.m. Beijing time on March 29, the team from Yunnan Province, which borders Myanmar, took off from Kunming -- Yunnan's capital city -- to the quake-stricken areas in Myanmar boarding a flight, carrying with them life detectors, seismic warning systems, portable satellite telephones and drones.

As the first Chinese rescue team to arrive in Myanmar, they immediately joined forces with local firefighters and rescuers to carry out rescue and medical operations in the severely-affected Naypyidaw, which lasted for over 150 hours.

At 5 a.m. March 30 local time, the team, joined by local forces, rescued an elderly person who had been trapped for nearly 40 hours at a local hospital.

A China Media Group report said on Wednesday that more than 500 Chinese rescue workers were in Myanmar for rescue and relief missions, all together. As of Thursday, Chinese rescue teams had successfully saved nine survivors from the quake-affected areas.