China holds inter-provincial disaster relief drill

BEIJING - An inter-provincial disaster relief drill was held Monday morning in east China's Hefei city to test post-quake relief capacities, the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) said Monday.

Rescue teams from nine provinces and municipalities, including eight rescue teams with heavy equipment and one with light equipment, as well as a total of 766 people and 116 vehicles, joined the drill.

The drill featured an imaginary earthquake scenario with road damage, river blockages, collapsed buildings and stranded people.

In the scenario, fire-control and rescue teams from Anhui Province began rescue efforts immediately, and the MPS started an emergency response plan and deployed rescue teams from eight provinces to accomplish relief tasks.

The drill was intended to strengthen coordination among related departments for disaster relief and the will of relief workers, and to comprehensively improve disaster relief capabilities of fire departments, the MPS said.