SANY sent five rescue teams to assist Sichuan.

Equipment maker SANY was the first non-governmental organisation to send relief to earthquake-ravaged Sichuan Province in south-western China. The Chinese company has also sent five rescue teams to aid in recovery efforts.

A 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck the Lushan County area of Sichuan Province on 20 April, killing more than 190 people and injuring 11,000 others. Within 75 minutes of the quake, SANY sent its first team to the area.

Just minutes after the quake, SANY Heavy Industry President Xiang Wenbo wrote on his Sina Weibo micro-blog, "SANY will spare no effort to help with the relief."

SANY sent 17 truck cranes, 10 excavators and 20 vehicles to Lushan County. The excavators have been used to clear roadways buried by landslides. Truck cranes are being used to install prefabricated housing units for families whose homes were damaged by the quake. A truck crane is being used to hold up the metal facade on a stadium building in Lushan County that continues to be rattled by aftershocks. The stadium is doubling as an emergency shelter.

"The work of removing the danger so high up had to be implemented immediately," says Zhu Wenkui, the SANY deputy general manager who has been chronicling relief efforts from Sichuan Province. "After the county headquarters gave the order to remove the danger, SANY equipment and staff got in front of the task."

SANY excavators and road rollers are being used to level hundreds of acres of land to facilitate the erection of tents for temporary shelter. SANY vehicles are being used to distribute rice, instant noodles, water, toiletries and other necessities. More than 100 SANY rescue workers are part of relief efforts, including some who served in the same role in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake that killed nearly 70,000 people.

SANY also manufactures empty container handlers and heavy forklifts.