An Air Macao charter plane carrying 40 tonnes of relief supplies provided by two Macao nongovernmental organizations (NGO) Monday took off from the city's airport to China's quake-hit Sichuan Province.

This was the second batch of relief supplies from Macao, which was collected and purchased by the Macao Red Cross and UGAMM (General Associations of Neighborhood Associations of Macao).

The supplies comprised various medical instruments, tents, milk powder, blankets, clinical masks, refrigerators, etc, which are all badly needed in the quake-hit areas.

The death toll from the devastating 8.0-magnitude earthquake three weeks ago in Sichuan Province rose to 69,019 as of Monday noon, according to the Information Office of the State Council. It also said that 373,573 others were injured and 18,627 still missing.

The two batches of airlifted relief supplies have a combined worth of 13 million patacas (US$1.63 million), the Macao Red Cross said, adding that a total of 5,800 tents, 1,600 inflatable damp-proof mattresses, 64 mobile toilets and 2,000 simply-equipped water closets will be transported to Sichuan through air and land by mid-June.

In addition to relief supplies, Macao has already sent a medical team of a dozen local doctors and nurses to assist works at a hospital in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan, last month.

Combining the figures provided respectively by the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in Macao and the Macao Red Cross, local public donations to the quake victims exceeded 200 million patacas (US$25 million) so far.

(Xinhua News Agency June 3, 2008)