A Cuban medical brigade on Tuesday headed to Chile on a mission to provide medical care for victims of the 8.8-magnitude earthquake which struck the South American nation on Saturday.

The brigade consists of 27 medical professionals specialized in general medicine, intensive care, surgery, orthopedics, internal medicine and anaesthesia and other areas.

Chilean Ambassador to Cuba Gabriel Gaspar praised the Cuban government's readiness to help his country with a medical brigade, calling it an example of efficiency, generosity and mobilization capacity.

Cuban Health Minister Jose Ramon Balaguer described the departure of health specialists to quake-hit Chile as a historic event.

The death toll from the devastating earthquake has reached 795. Quake-caused damages are so far estimated to be up to 30 billion U.S. dollars, or a fifth of the country's gross domestic product.