QUAKE SURVIVORS TO BE EVACUATED TO RUSSIAN HOSPITAL ON NIAS ISLAND

MOSCOW, April 3 (RIA Novosti) - As soon as the deployment of the Russian hospital on Nias Island (Indonesia) is completed, most survivors of the earthquake will be evacuated there before the transportation to the mainland, the Russian Foreign Ministry told RIA Novosti.

The Russian airmobile hospital was brought to Medan on board the IL-76 aircraft of the Russian Emergencies Ministry.

"Helicopters of Singapore's Air Force helped the first group of Russian rescuers (10 people) arrive to Nias Island, which was badly damaged by the earthquake. On Sunday two helicopters of the Nizhnevartovskavia company working in Singapore under contract took the hospital's staff and equipment to Gunung Sitoli, the island's administrative center," the Foreign Ministry reported.

Rescuers from Australia, South Korea, Hungary and Japan are also working on Nias Island. Russia rescuers intend to maintain contacts and coordinate joint work with them, the Foreign Ministry stressed.

Russian rescuers recently found two quake survivors under the debris, the press service of the Emergencies Ministry told RIA Novosti. These local men were hospitalized.