THE SLOVAK relief and rescue team assisting in efforts to clean up the devastation caused by the Indian Ocean tsunami has carried out disinfection work in the main hospital in the town of Matara on the south coast of Sri Lanka. The hospital has a capacity of 1000 to 1600 beds.
Ján Culka, head of the team, stated that the rescue workers were in good physical and mental condition.
On January 10, the team is to move to a hospital in the town of Galla and will go on to disinfect other hospitals on the coast that have been used as temporary mortuaries. They are using disinfectants and tools that they brought with them from Slovakia.
So far the tsunami has claimed more than 150,000 lives in countries around the Indian Ocean. The team hopes to prevent further deaths resulting from epidemics.
By January 12, Slovak charities had collected more than Sk14.79 million (€383,365), including Sk3 million (€80,000) donated by the SPP gas corporation to People in Peril's SOS Asia fund.
