BEIJING, Jan.23 (Xinhuanet) -- The Japanese government has sent a special plane to Algiers to evacuate Japanese survivors from last week’s deadly hostage crisis. Japan’s Kyodo News said that it’s the first time that the Japanese government has used its special plane to evacuate its nationals involved in an emergency situation abroad.

The special plane is a Boeing 747 managed by the Air Self-Defense Force. The planes are commonly used to carry the Japanese Emperor or Prime minister during travel. Though the aircraft are also reserved for rescuing Japanese nationals from natural disasters or riots, it has never used before.

(Source: CNTV.cn)