UN Sends Somali Wave Victims Aid
- Author: BBC
- Publish date:29/12/2004
- Section:WORLD HEADLINES
More than 30 tons of United Nations food aid is being sent to the Somali island of Hafun - battered by Sunday's Indian Ocean tsunami.
It is being transported to the 2,000 islanders by a bridge accessible during low tide, the UN says.
Waves that swept 7,000km (4,000 miles) from the epicentre left a trail of smashed buildings and boats along the East African coast.
About 100 Somali fishermen are feared dead and 10 people drowned in Tanzania.
**Cholera fear***
"Food distribution in Hafun will start on Wednesday morning - almost the entire population of the island has been affected," the UN World Food Programme's Laura Melo told BBC News Website.
The UN is planning an aerial assessment of Somalia's coastline on Thursday, she said.
According to the BBC's Mohammed Olad Hassan in the capital Mogadishu, there are reports that large numbers of villagers along the coast have lost their homes due to flooding.
Speaking on Kenyan television on Tuesday night, Somalia's Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Ghedi said he feared the disaster would cause an outbreak of cholera.
He and other members of the government - which is currently based in neighbouring Kenya as Mogadishu is considered too dangerous for ministers - are due to visit the most affected regions of northern Somalia on Saturday.
The north-eastern region of Puntland is already facing serious food shortages due to a four-year drought followed by floods, the WFP says.
Each month WFP gives assistance to some 120,000 people in the area.
**Bridge damaged***
Countries along the East African coast are still trying to assess the total loss of life and damage caused by the tsunami.
More than 1,000 people have been made homeless in Madagascar.
Three people died in the Seychelles, where a bridge linking the main airport and capital Victoria was destroyed while a village in northern Mauritius was submerged for almost three hours following the surges.
In Kenya, beaches that were closed on Sunday reopened, amid government warnings to tourists to take precautions.
About 15 fishing boats were damaged in the French territory of Reunion.
The British government warned its citizens in Madagascar, Mauritius, the Seychelles, Kenya and Tanzania to be alert for potential danger from the sea surges.