Geneva - The United Nations said yesterday it had begun a food air drop to 230,000 hungry refugees uprooted by flooding in southern Somalia. Ms Christiane Berthiaume, spokeswoman for the World Food Programme, said a C-130 cargo aircraft had dropped 16.2 tonnes of maize along the Juba River.
The food, dropped on wooden pallets, is to be distributed to villagers isolated by the flood waters. Tens of thousands of refugees are stranded on hills, sand dunes and roof-tops waiting to be rescued from rains which have killed at least 1,600 since late October, according to the latest toll from the UN.
The cargo plane will drop 16 tonnes of food twice a day and a total of 1,000 tonnes during the next month.