JAPAN MEDICAL TEAM ARRIVES IN QUAKE-HIT MYANMAR TO OFFER ASSISTANCE

TOKYO, April 2 (Bernama-Kyodo) -- A Japanese medical team arrived on Wednesday in Yangon, Myanmar's largest city, to deliver emergency relief supplies, including sanitary items, water and water purifiers, days after a powerful earthquake struck the Southeast Asian country, Kyodo News Agency reported.

The 32-member team, the first of its kind to be dispatched by Japan, will engage in medical activities at the site through the government-backed Japan International Cooperation Agency and the United Nations, the Foreign Ministry said.

"We will take a close look at the afflicted areas and hope to offer effective support," the head of the team told reporters after reaching Yangon.

Japan, meanwhile, is ready to extend around US$6 million in emergency grant aid for victims of the natural disaster, the government said on Wednesday.

The aid will be provided through international organisations, given "the massive humanitarian needs" expected in Myanmar, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said, as the death toll since Friday's magnitude 7.7 quake reached over 2,700 in the Southeast Asian nation.

Two Japanese nationals were confirmed to have been injured in Mandalay, Myanmar's second-largest city near the epicentre, and another in Bangkok, the capital of neighbouring Thailand. One Japanese national remained unaccounted for in Mandalay, the government said.

"The Japanese government will stand side by side with the people of Myanmar and deliver humanitarian aid that can directly benefit them," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said at a press briefing.

-- BERNAMA-KYODO