Haaretz – ZAKA International Rescue Unit said Friday it will send a team of trained volunteers from Israel to help the search and rescue efforts in Japan, following the 8.9-magnitude earthquake and tsunami that rocked the country earlier that day.

Following a consultation with the Israeli Foreign Ministry and with emissaries from the Chabad organization in Japan, ZAKA arranged to send a team headed by the organization’s co-directors Mati Goldstein and Dovi Maisel, on Saturday evening (after the conclusion of the Sabbath).