Chinese construction group answered pleas for help in Nepal

Engineers drove heavy equipment to rescue four beneath rubble in Kathmandu

Chen Tiegang, director of the Nepal branch of Shanghai Construction Group, never thought the company's plant and machinery would be used to save lives.

After the magnitude-7.9 earthquake struck on April 25 and wreaked damage in Kathmandu, destroying historical heritage sites and causing buildings to collapse, residents led by policeman came to the company's yard to ask for help.

"The residents were crying. They said their houses had collapsed and family members were buried beneath the rubble. A police officer said they needed our machines to save people," Chen said.

Driving construction plant takes skill. With the earthquake occurring on a Saturday, many of the Chinese engineers were away for the weekend, but the three engineers on site immediately joined the rescue efforts with a crane, forklift truck and excavator.

Regardless of the continuous aftershocks, the Chinese engineers worked until midnight that day.

"Thanks to our equipment, we rescued four people from collapsed buildings," Chen said.

The earthquake left many of SCG's 81 Nepali employees homeless. Some of them lost their families, and SCG's depot became a shelter for them.

"I told them that as long as the Chinese staff members had food, no Nepali would go hungry at my base," Chen said.

SCG also took care of 100 students from a primary school northwest of Kathmandu.

"We've been supporting the school, which has many orphans, since we started working in Nepal. After the earthquake, we lost contact because of the destruction of the telecommunication networks. We were very worried about the children during those days," Chen said.

When the network was repaired four days later, SCG called the school.

"They were safe but asked for food and tents," Chen said. "It is hard to get food right after a disaster. Many shops were closed. Luckily, we have a long-term food supplier in Kathmandu, and we bought up almost everything in the shop."

Within 48 hours, 300 kilograms of rice, 250 kg of flour, cooking oil and tents were delivered by the Chinese construction company to the school.

"We hope those students, who do not have parents, can still feel cared for during this natural disaster," Chen said.

SCG has been working on an assistance project to upgrade Kathmandu's ring road since 2013, a project costing 300 million yuan ($49 million).

According to Chen, the earthquake did not cause much damage to the project of which 50 percent of the basic construction has been completed. The Chinese team plans to spend one month repairing the damaged sections of the 10.4-kilometer road and is confident of completing the project on schedule. The handover to the Nepali government is due to take place in August, 2016.