Social workers sent to quake-hit Yunnan for rehabilitation services

Five teams of professional social workers will be sent to Ludian in southwest China's Yunnan Province, hit by a strong earthquake last month.

Each team will be made up of ten members and they will offer assistance to families who lost their relatives in the quake, elderly people and needy families, said the Ministry of Civil Affairs in a statement on Friday.

They will provide psychologic counseling for local people, help organize support groups among locals and assist them to rebuild their communities, the statement said.

These social workers themselves will receive training and be supervised by a group of experts in the early stage of their work in quake-hit areas.

They will arrive at Ludian before Sept. 10, the statement said.

A 6.5-magnitude earthquake jolted Ludian on Aug. 3, killing more than 600 people and destroying 80,000 homes.