Rescue mission to Japan returns home

A Swiss rescue team has flown home after taking part in an international recovery operation in Japan, hit by a massive quake and resulting tsunami.

The team, which included 23 specialists and nine rescue dogs, operated about 100 km north of Sendai, that is around 150 km from the stricken nuclear power plants in Fukushima.

A foreign ministry statement said the team managed to locate three people who had been buried by rubble, with information then passed on to Japanese colleagues.

The statement noted that Switzerland was still active on the ground in Japan. Humanitarian aid experts were in Tokyo and Osaka, in particular helping Swiss embassy officials.

It added that the mission had been very much appreciated by Japan’s people and the authorities as a sign of solidarity at a particularly difficult time.

In a related development, Swiss International Air Lines announced that it had changed its Sunday flight plan to Japan as a result of uncertain weather conditions there.

Swiss said its Tokyo flight would land in Osaka, about 600 km south of the Japanese capital, as a precautionary measure.