Somali appeal for tsunami aid

Impact: Somalia is the worst-hit African state, with damage concentrated in the region of Puntland, on the tip of the Horn of Africa. The water destroyed 1,180 homes, smashed 2,400 boats and rendered freshwater wells and reservoirs unusable, the UN said in a report on 4 January.

Toll: Nearly 300 Somalis are known to have died, with thousands more homeless and many fishermen still unaccounted for. About 50,000 people have been displaced.

Aid: The UN has called for $13m to help tsunami victims. Aid agencies with small ground operations in Puntland have delivered food and relief supplies, as has a German Navy helicopter. Somalia is anarchic and has few roads, presenting aid agencies with a major challenge.

Most buildings on the Somali island of Hafun were swept away by the deadly Indian Ocean tsunami, an emergency aid relief team has revealed.

Roads washed away by the sea are hampering the delivery of food aid.

Waves which swept 7,000km (4,000 miles) from the epicentre left a trail of smashed buildings and boats along the East African coast.

More than 160 people in East Africa are known to have died in the floods.

Cholera fear

The UN World Food Programme's Ali Issay - part of the first relief team to reach victims of the tsunami - told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme: "Almost 95% of Hafun's buildings have been destroyed.

"Dazed inhabitants have moved to higher ground and are wandering about asking for help, as there is no food and no fresh water on the island".

Somali tsunami toll victims rise

Almost 300 Somalis have died in the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster, the regional authorities are saying.

At a news conference, officials in the semi-independent region of Puntland announced that 298 Somalis had died.

The giant waves hit the north-eastern Somali coastline at the height of the fishing season, when the population of coastal villages is larger than usual.

The United Nations has distributed more than 200 tonnes of food aid to 12,000 Somalis so far, it says.

The UN agency, the World Food Programme, says up to 30,000 require food assistance.

The largest quantities of food are being distributed in the Hafun peninsula, which was one of the worst affected areas.

The UN has four teams in the area to assess the damage and provide aid.

On Tuesday the UN launched an appeal for help for saying at least $13m was urgently needed to help some 54,000 Somalis affected by the tsunami.

Difficulties

Along the north-eastern coast a large number of shelters, fishing boats and equipment have been lost or damaged and wells have been washed away.

AFRICA: DEATH TOLL
Somalia: 298
Tanzania: 10
Kenya: 1
Seychelles: 1

Relief workers have been trying to distribute immediate aid, such as food and clean water, to survivors.

But they say they are finding it difficult to reach a number of areas because some of the road tracks have become impassable and the main bridge which connects the Hafun peninsula to the Somali mainland has been washed away.

US and German soldiers, based in neighbouring Djibouti, have been helping aid agencies in Somalia to get fresh water and other supplies to the survivors.

Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Ghedi cancelled a planned visit to the affected region at the weekend.

It would have been his first trip to Somalia since his appointment from exile in Kenya.

Source: www.bbc.com