Rescue teams rise to the challenge

Overseas operations

On June 23 last year, 12 Thai boys and their soccer coach were reported missing. They were later found trapped in a flooded cave in Chiang Rai in the north of Thailand.

On hearing the news, Wang, from the Peaceland Foundation, contacted the Chinese embassy in Bangkok and said his team was willing to send civilian rescuers to help the boys.

With approval and support from the embassy and help from the local overseas Chinese community, seven rescuers arrived in Thailand and worked with others from around the world.

The Peaceland Foundation was officially registered last year, but its members have been taking part in overseas operations since November 2012, when a magnitude 7 earthquake hit Mandalay in Myanmar.

In March, after Cyclone Idai hit Africa, several volunteers went to Mozambique, taking with them 1 metric ton of supplies for disaster relief, sand elimination and water purification.

BSR has also conducted dozens of overseas rescues. For example, it sent more than 80 volunteers after an earthquake struck Nepal in 2015 and to Laos after a dam broke last year.

It has also set up teams in Malaysia, Nepal, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Sri Lanka.

After an earthquake hit Indonesia last year, a medical team of about 15 from BSR's Malaysian branch arrived in the disaster area and treated hundreds of people.

Zhang, the BSR captain, said: "We just want to help when we see someone is suffering, no matter if it is at home or abroad. Besides, we can learn a lot from rescue teams from other countries."

BSR is applying to join the International Search and Rescue Advisory Group, a global network of disaster-prone and disaster-responding countries and organizations dedicated to urban search and rescue and operational field coordination under the umbrella of the United Nations.