South Africa's mission ends in Nepal

05 May 2015 - 17:46 By Matthew Savides

South Africa's involvement in the Nepal earthquake relief effort is officially over‚ with the search and rescue team set to leave the country tonight. The rest of the team‚ coordinated by the Gift of the Givers Foundation‚ will likely leave tomorrow.Ahmed Bham‚ team coordinator‚ confirmed that tickets were being booked for 20 people tonight‚ 17 paramedics and rescue experts‚ and three doctors. They were all part of the first relief group to arrive in the country on Wednesday last week."Depending on the availability of tickets‚ everyone else will leave tomorrow‚" said Bham.The team was left frustrated upon their arrival last week‚ with their luggage and vital rescue equipment having been stuck at the Singapore airport for 48 hours. By the time it arrived‚ their chances of finding survivors trapped in the rubble after the 7.8-magnitude earthquake were already slim.Tomorrow morning‚ the last half-dozen scheduled operations will be done by South African doctors‚ while the rest of the team will run a feeding scheme...

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