An emergencies ministry plane carrying a Russian rescue team to quake-hit Haiti took off from an airfield near Moscow on Thursday, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported.
The Il-76 transport plane took off from the Ramenskoye airfield at 5:30 Moscow time (02:30 GMT).
"The first plane will take a vehicle, rescuers and handlers with dogs trained to search for people," an emergencies ministry spokesman said.
A 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit Haiti on Tuesday. The quake's epicenter was 10 miles southwest of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, at a depth of just 6 miles. It was followed by dozens of aftershocks, including two measuring 5.9 and 5.0. Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive said the death toll from the quake could reach "well over 100,000."
ZHUKOVSKY, Moscow Region, January 14 (RIA Novosti)
