China dispatches foreign aid team to disaster-stricken Mozambique

China has deployed a foreign aid team to Mozambique in the wake of a deadly cyclone that has triggered flooding and landslides in the southeast African country, the Ministry of Emergency Management said on Sunday.

The foreign aid squad, comprised of 65 team members with some 20 metric tons of emergency aid supplies, was dispatched by the ministry and took off from Beijing Capital International Airport Sunday afternoon.

It was the first foreign aid team sent abroad by the Ministry of Emergency Management since the ministry was set up in late March last year.

The ministry said Chinese foreign aid personnel will offer help to local rescuers in terms of searching for victims, medical services and disease prevention efforts.

The official death toll from Cyclone Idai, which hit Mozambique in the early hours of March 15, and later swept though neighboring countries Malawi and Zimbabwe, had climbed to over 700 on Saturday, according to local authorities.

Chinese President Xi Jinping sent messages of condolence to his counterparts in the three countries on Wednesday.