Australian aid plane leaves for Chile

6 Mar 2010, 12:24 pm   -   Source: AAP
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Emergency supplies including portable generators and tents have left Sydney as part of Australia's response to the earthquake that struck Chile last weekend.

Emergency supplies including portable generators and large tents have left Sydney as part of Australia's response to the massive earthquake that struck Chile last weekend.

Following a request from the Chilean Ambassador, the Australian government has decided on an initial contribution of $1 million in emergency assistance to help Chile, after it was hit by a 8.8-magnitude earthquake on February 27, which then unleashed a tsunami.

Fifty generators, 150 family tents and 1060 collapsible beds are part of a package which left Sydney on Saturday morning destined for Chile, aid agency AusAID said.

The supplies will arrive in the capital Santiago and will then be taken to the worst-hit areas around the city of Concepcion to provide temporary housing and power.

Australia will also make an initial contribution of $4 million in reconstruction assistance.

"We will coordinate our efforts with the Chilean authorities, the United Nations and other Latin American countries," Foreign Affairs minister Stephen Smith said in a statement this week.

Australia is also considering sending a team of structural engineers to support the Chilean Government to carry out damage assessments on public buildings and infrastructure affected by the earthquake.

At least two million people have been affected, with 802 people killed and 500,000 homes destroyed.

Earlier on Saturday, the first flight into Sydney from Chile since the devastating earthquake and tsunami a week ago landed.

Carrying 260 passengers, Flight LA 801 touched down at Sydney International Airport about 7.30am (AEDT) on Saturday, following the cancellation of several other scheduled flights because of severe damage to Santiago's airport.

Sydney resident Silvia Cordova was on a three month holiday in Santiago, the capital of Chile, when she felt the effects of the quake.

Swamped by an emotional contingent of family and friends at Sydney Airport on Saturday morning, the teary grandmother said she was "so happy" to finally be back home.

"The ceiling was on the floor, it was terrible," she said, describing what she experienced during the earthquake.

"It was terrible. If you walked, you would fall. The damage is very bad, especially in the south.

"Everything was falling down. All the glasses, everything."

The turbulence on the flight back to Australia only reminded her of the quake, she added.

Elsa Campos, from Santiago, was also on flight LA 801.

It was her first visit to Sydney in 20 years.

"The quake was really bad," she said.

"There was a lot of damage, there was a lot of violence.

"There's a lot of people suffering. Some people have disappeared so there are police and military helping find them."

Ms Campos intends on staying with relatives in Sydney for three months before she returns home.

LAN Airlines regional manager Rodrigo Contreras said about 70 per cent of flights out of Chile had returned to normal.

He expects 100 per cent will be operational next week.

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