Linde service vans carried water, food and medicine to earthquake-hit Sichuan province, China.

Linde service vans were used to carry water, food and medicine to Hanwang Town, one of the worst earthquake-hit areas in Sichuan province, China.

After news of the 7.8-magnitude earthquake broke on 12 May, Linde employees at the Chengdu branch contacted rescue work organisers and obtained their own pass to enter the affected region.

"Our team loaded water, medicines, foods and salts and other necessities into Linde's service vans and departed for Hanwang Town. After four hours, we arrived at Lingfacun Village ... where we handed the supplies to the village head," Linde China said in a statement last week.

The company also matched each RMB1 (USD0.14) donation collected from its employees, collectively contributing RMB360,000 (USD51,929) in aid. Company CEO CP Quek handed a RMB200,000 (USD28,850) donation to Chengdu's Red Cross Society and the remainder of the funds will go to employees affected by the tragedy.

Some employees' immediate family members lost homes and possessions in the earthquake but there were no casualties, Linde said.

Linde China also pledged forklifts to Chengdu's Red Cross Society for its disaster relief efforts.

Separately, Komatsu Ltd and its China affiliates and employees will donate JPY150 million (USD1.4 million) in cash and equipment toward the relief efforts.