Under the directives of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and instructions of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, a Search and Rescue (SAR) team from the Ministry of Interior will leave tomorrow for Nepal to participate in the international SAR operations looking for survivors following the devastating earthquake that hit the country yesterday, leaving hundreds dead.

Lt. Colonel Mohamed Abdul Jalil Al Ansari, leader of the MoI's SAR team and Director, Abu Dhabi Civil Defence, said that H.H. Lt. General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior, has instructed that immediate action be taken as per the higher leadership's instructions to help and extend relief to the friendly Nepalese people.

He added that a highly professional team of 88 officers, rescuers, along with rescue equipment, to be joined by a team of experts of the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) will participate in the SAR operations and provide international assistance to mitigate the disastrous impact of the devastating quake.

'The team is making coordinating its international operations urgently, carrying out its relief operations in friendly countries and conducting humanitarian missions and field work as part of the UAE's constant keenness to help people in distress and rescue victims of natural disasters in sisterly and friendly countries,' he added.

During the Nepal mission, he indicated, the UAE team will use state-of-the-art equipment for SAR operations and Disaster Victim Identification or (DVI).

The UAE SAR team, in the past, participated in similar missions in Pakistan (2005), Indonesia (2006-2007) and Afghanistan (2008).

The UAE SAR team has recently conducted a mock training on an earthquake-hit building. It has successfully undergone an International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG) External Classification Exercise, and having fully met all the criteria established in the INSARAG Guidelines, has been classified as a Heavy Urban Search and Rescue.