The UN World Food Programme (WFP) said Tuesday it was sending 31 tonnes of food to assist about 2 000 people in Somalia’s northern Hafuni island, which was battered by surging waves spawned by the mammoth earthquake off Indonesia.
”The food is going by road — the journey takes six hours in low tide (and) there is a land bridge to the island. They should be reaching any time,” WFP said in a statement released here.
At least 40 fishermen were confirmed dead and more than 60 others were still missing after their wooden fishing dhows capsized Sunday in the wake of killer waves off the east African coast.
The WFP, which operates an air service in Somalia, said it would carry out an aerial assessment over Somalia’s battered shoreline on Thursday.
It has stored about 1,000 tonnes of food in the Somali northeastern state of Puntland, which were initially destined for drought victims, but can be used to aid those affected by the tsunami, the statement added.
The world’s biggest-ever aid operation got under way Tuesday to help Asian countries stricken by the quake and the resulting tsunamis, which killed more than 55 000 people across the Indian Ocean. – Sapa-AFP