WFP to begin air drops to south Sudan flood victims

September 25, 2007 (GENEVA) — The U.N. food agency said on Tuesday it would begin month-long air drops for some 43,800 people in southern Sudan, where devastating floods have washed away crops and roads.

Some 1,440 tonnes of food, mainly cereals, will be dropped in three states (Lakes, Jonglei and Upper Nile), during the operation beginning next week, the World Food Programme (WFP) said.

Another 264 tonnes will be brought by boat to Jonglei, WFP spokeswoman Christiane Berthiaume told a news briefing.

The food should be sufficient for three months.

Some 42,000 hectares of crops and at least 12,000 head of livestock have been lost in Sudan’s worst floods in living memory which began in July, she said.

Acute watery diarrhoea, a water-borne disease, had already killed 57 people, she added.

(Reuters)