In Moscow, Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu has met with the Japanese Ambassador to Russia Masaharu Kono and asked him to speed up formalities needed to bring Russian rescue teams to Japan.
Seventy-nine Russian rescuers are already searching for survivors in the city of Sendai, the worst-hit by the March 11 earthquake. Two more rescue teams are awaiting departure at an airport in Khabarovsk in far-eastern Russia.
“I hope they will reach Japan in the coming hours,” said Mr. Shoigu. He offered to send dog specialists too to “make the rescue efforts more effective”.