UK charities in Pacific appeals

Thursday, 1 October 2009
(Post by CAAI News Media)

Oxfam and the Red Cross have launched appeals after the Pacific disasters.

They follow a 7.6-magnitude earthquake which struck the Indonesian island of Sumatra on Wednesday, killing at least 770 people and injuring 2,400.

Rescue workers on the Samoan islands and Tonga continue to search for survivors of Tuesday's tsunami, which killed at least 149 people.

Meanwhile an international rescue team based in Grangemouth, Stirlingshire, is preparing to fly out to Sumatra.

The 10 volunteers from the International Rescue Corps have been asked for help by the Indonesian government.

They will take specialist equipment including listening devices and camera systems which can penetrate rubble to search for trapped survivors in collapsed buildings.

Diggers in

Oxfam will send an emergency response team to Padang, Indonesia.

They will join staff from the charity's local partners who are distributing shelter tarpaulins, hygiene kits and clothes.

Mechanical diggers to clear routes affected by mudslides and other debris are also being sent in.

The earthquake struck near the city of Padang, the capital of West Sumatra province.

It brought down hospitals, schools and shopping malls, cut power lines and triggered landslides.

A second, weaker, quake of 6.8 magnitude struck on Thursday but there were no immediate reports of further casualties or damage.

Inel Rosnelli, an aid worker in Padang said: "Many people are still trapped in the buildings.

"Traffic cannot move because of the destruction. We have water today but safe drinking water may run out soon, the problem may also be sanitation."

Jane Cocking, Oxfam's humanitarian director called on "the support of the British public to help us save lives in this grave tragedy. "

Typhoon flooding

The earthquakes came in the wake of Typhoon Ketsana which swept through the Philippines, Vietnam and Cambodia at the end of September.

It has flooded millions of homes and killed hundreds of people across the region.

A further super-typhoon could strike the Philippines in the coming days.

Oxfam is providing water and blankets, clothes and cleaning equipment in the Philippines as well as small cash grants.

Food, household items and water supplies are going to Vietnam.

Emergency supplies and a team of staff are on the way to help victims of the tsunami in Samoa and Tonga.

The Red Cross is working in the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, providing household kits, shelter and deploying teams to assess the needs of those affected by flooding.