Photo courtesy of Tzu Chi Foundation

Taipei, Sept. 26 (CNA) Taiwan's Buddhist charitable Tzu Chi Foundation said Tuesday it is preparing to send a volunteer medical team to Mexico to provide service in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake that struck the country last week.

The team members will depart Taiwan as soon as they obtain their Mexico visas, Lin Hung-chan (林弘展), the foundation's chief of public relations, told CNA.

He said another Tzu Chi humanitarian team dispatched from the United States is already in Mexico to assess the disaster situation.

As of Monday, the death toll from the magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck central Mexico on Sept. 19 was 324, including five Taiwanese nationals, while 4,500 people were reported injured.

On Sept. 22, Taiwan's government said it would donate US$100,000 to the earthquake relief efforts in Mexico.

Taiwan's representative office in Mexico is consulting Mexican authorities on how and when the aid should be delivered, and the details will be made public as soon as they are finalized, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Eleanor Wang (王珮玲) said Tuesday.

(By Elaine Hou and Y.F. Low)
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