United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived at Yingxiu town in China's southwestern Wenchuan County at 11:25 a.m. Saturday by helicopter to express his sympathy for those who suffered from the devastating earthquake on May 12.

Yingxiu, in Sichuan Province, is one of the zones worst-stricken by the 8.0-magnitude earthquake, which had claimed 55,740 lives nationwide as of Friday noon, or 55,239 in Sichuan alone as of 7:00 p.m. Thursday.

UN grant for China increased to US$8 million

The United Nations has increased to $8 million its emergency grant for earthquake relief efforts in China, a UN spokesperson said Friday.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced last Friday that the UN was granting up to $7 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) for humanitarian efforts following the earthquake in China.

"Just to update you, the CERF allocation has increased to $8 million based on the higher value of projects ultimately approved," Marie Okabe told reporters at the UN Headquarters.

Meantime, the World Health Organization (WHO) is rushing enough additional medical supplies to treat 130,000 people and is sending an expert team to work with the government on rebuilding hospitals and other health-care services, Okabe said.

WHO is also providing disinfection tablets, drinking-water treatment units and mobile toilets, she said.

The International Telecommunication Union has deployed 100 mobile satellite terminals to help restore vital communication links and enable better coordination of relief operations, she added.

(Xinhua News Agency May 24, 2008)