Ethiopia’s Somali Regional State calls for aid to flood victims

ADDIS ABABA, Apr 29, 2005 (Ethiopian TV) — The council of the Somali Regional State, in eastern Ethiopia, has called on humanitarian organizations to help citizens rendered homeless by floods in the area.

Council Speaker Ali Mohamed Kunaye said at a news conference yesterday that 89 people and a number of livestock were killed by floods in five districts following heavy rains.

He called on humanitarian organizations to help unknow number of people rendered homeless by the rains.

The speaker said the exact number of victims could not be known because of the inaccessibility of the areas hit by the floods.

He said although food and material assistance obtained from the federal Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Commission and the regional state’s food security bureau was being channelled to Kebri Beyah through eastern and western districts, he said the problem was beyond capacity, and called on humanitarian organizations to help the victims.

Material provided by the BBC Monitoring Service.