UN allocates $15 million emergency funds for Nepal earthquake relief

2015/04/28

UN, April 29. /TASS/. The United Nations have allocated $15 million in emergency funding to help Nepal cope with the aftermath of a devastating earthquake that killed more than 5,000 people.

United Nations aid chief Valerie Amos on Tuesday "released $15 million through the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to enable humanitarian aid organizations to rapidly scale up operations and provide immediate assistance to people in desperate need," said the report from the U.N. humanitarian agency OCHA.

The 7.9-magnitude earthquake hit Nepal on Saturday destroying buildings in the capital Kathmandu and severely affecting rural areas across the region.

The death toll has risen to more than 5,000 now, with more than 10,000 injured, officials say.

The U.N. estimates that eight million people in 39 districts have been affected by the earthquake - more than a quarter of the population.

Among the dead are nearly 80 climbers who were at Mount Everest base camp when it was hit by an avalanche triggered by the quake.

Tremors were felt in India’s capital New Delhi and its eastern, northern and north-eastern states, where 70 people were killed and more than 250 injured, as well as in Myanmar, Bangladesh and Tibet.

The United Nations and its partners are taking measures to help the affected people, OCHA said. The World Food Programme (WFP) is planning to provide food assistance to 1.4 million people over three months.

On Tuesday, WFP chartered an 80-tonne cargo plane filled with relief supplies, including food, shelter and telecoms gear, to Kathmandu from Dubai.

The World Health Organization said on Monday it had already distributed medical supplies to cover the health needs of more than 40,000 people for three months in the country.


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