The legislature of Hong Kong passed an urgent 350 million HK dollars (44.87 million U.S. dollars) funding proposal by the government here Wednesday morning to help victims of a magnitude 7.8 earthquake which has killed more than 12,000 and buries tens of thousands more.
Before discussing the proposal, members of the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council attending the urgent special meeting all stood for one minute silent tribute to those who died in the earthquake.
All legislative councilors from different political parties agreed unanimously to grant the urgent funding, of which 300 million HK dollars will be donated to the central government's coordinating center for rescue work in the quake-hit areas and 50 million HK dollars will open for local charitable institutions' applications for relief efforts in southwest China.
Earlier on Tuesday, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Chief Executive Donald Tsang said the HKSAR government has been liaising closely with the central government and vowed to render utmost assistance to the nation's relief efforts.