China's air force flies winter relief materials to snow-affected areas

BEIJING, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- Four Chinese air force Ilyushin II-76 military transport aircraft on Thursday night began flying relief materials to south China areas affected by severe winter weather.

The People's Liberation Army (PLA) on Thursday announced the General Staff Department had ordered the aircraft to carry quilts and winter coats from bases in Xi'an city, Shaanxi Province, and Changzhi city, Shanxi Province to south China.

The supplies would be delivered to people whose homes had been damaged by the extreme weather, said Lieutenant-Colonel Chen Zheming, of the PLA emergency response group.

"After receiving a request for air assistance from the State Disaster Relief Commission, the four military carriers immediately suspended their military tasks and flew to the appointed bases in 40 minutes," he said.

One aircraft took off at 1:17 a.m. on Thursday from Changzhi and landed at Nanning, capital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, at 3:57 a.m..

However, aircraft scheduled to leave Xi'an just after midnight were delayed when sleet closed the airport at their destination in Guiyang, capital of Guizhou Province, said Chen. They were still awaiting orders.

The PLA donated 419,000 quilts and 219,000 cotton-padded coats to disaster-affected areas, which will be transported by rail, road and air. The aircraft would carry out the humanitarian missions until all the supplies were delivered.

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