The Argentine government on Thursday sent a planeload of medical equipment and relief supplies to Haiti, which was hit by a magnitude-7.3 earthquake on Tuesday.

An air force Hercules C-130 plane carrying water, power generators, satellite telephones and food, as well as staff of the United Nations peacekeeping force and rescue workers, took off Thursday evening from an airport in the western suburb of Buenos Aires.

Before the plane took off, Argentine President Cristina Fernandez said: "It is not enough with a humanitarian mission. There is a lot of poverty, indigence, unemployment and insecurity. With a 78-percent unemployment rate, the insecurity level is really high."

On Friday, another Argentine plane will fly to Haiti with more humanitarian aid.

Also on Thursday, Panama sent to Haiti a cargo plane carrying 22 rescue workers and four sniffer dogs, as well as 15 tons of food and medical supplies.

Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli said the plane also carried badly needed communication equipment, water purifying machines, tents and other relief items.

Arturo Alvarado, director of the Panamanian National System of Civil Protection, said the Panamanian rescue workers will stay in Haiti for 10 days and work in coordination with the Haitian authorities.

(Xinhua News Agency January 15, 2010)