US, German soldiers rescue 27 Somali victims of tidal waves

www.chinaview.cn 2005-01-02 01:40:09

NAIROBI, Jan. 1 (Xinhuanet) -- A combined team of US and German marines have so far rescued 27 Somalis affected by deadly tidal waves that battered the Horn of Africa nation's shores last Sunday,a spokesman said here Sat urday.

Presidential spokesman Yusuf Mohamed Ismail said most of the victims rescued by the soldiers are from the Indian Ocean coastline of the semi-autonomous region of Puntland, including thenortheastern Hafun island that was hardest hit by the violent waves on Sunday.

The tidal waves struck the Somali coast as the effect of a series of strong undersea Sumatra earthquakes, killing over 200 Somalis and displaced more than 50,000.

He told a news conference in Nairobi that a delegation of nine Somali lawmakers is expected to arrive in Somalia next Tuesday to undertake an assessment of the entire Somali coastline in an attempt to identify other areas in need of help in the nation, which until recently had been without a government for more than adecade.

"After three-days of rescue mission along the Somali coast, theGerman and US marines have managed to rescue 27 Somalis. Both governments are also offering logistic support by distributing food aid to hundreds of the affected communities," Ismail said.

"After full consultations between the president, prime ministerand speaker, it was agreed that the MPs leave Nairobi either Tuesday or Wednesday to undertake an assessment mission after which the UN agencies would make an appeal for the affected communities," Ismail said.

After being frustrated for days by washed-out roads, the reliefagencies Thursday got its first delivery of 12 tons of food following the first aerial assessment of the entire Somali coastline.

Relief agencies estimate 10,000 to 15,000 affected people were in need of immediate assistance.

At least 130,000 people in Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Maldives, Thailand, Malaysia, among others, have been killed in the quake-and-tsunami disaster.

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