750,000 Somalis may die due to worsening drought
07/09/2011 / EMERGENCY
The United Nations estimates up to 750,000 people may die as a
result of the drought and subsequent famine in Somalia. That figure
eclipses the death toll of the Asian tsunami and Haiti earthquake
combined.
The warning comes as famine is declared in a sixth region of
Somalia. The UN says over 58% of people in the Bay area are acutely
malnourished. That's almost double the rate at which famine is
officially declared (30%).
"Though the famine was expected to spread to more regions in
Somalia, the situation in the Bay area - a landlocked southern
province - is worse than anything previously recorded" says World
Vision Humanitarian and Emergency Affairs manager Ian McInnes.
"The declaration simply confirms what we are witnessing on the
Ethiopian and Kenyan borders where appallingly malnourished Somalis
continue to arrive in search of help".
While Somalia appears to be the worst affected, the drought is
also wreaking havoc in Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti and parts of
Tanzania and Uganda.
World Vision is currently trucking water into the most remote
areas, distributing food and medical supplies and treating people
for malnutrition in northern and southern Somalia, Kenya and
Ethiopia.
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