SANAA: Saudi Arabia has sent $100 million in aid to Yemen in the wake of flooding that killed scores of people, President Ali Abdullah Saleh announced yesterday, the official Saba news agency reported.
Saleh thanked Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah in a telephone call for the Kingdom’s help, saying it would help the Yemeni authorities “cope with the aftermath of these catastrophic floods,” the agency said.
In addition to the cash aid, Saleh said the Saudis had also sent food and medicines for people in the affected areas.
“The people of Yemen will never forget this laudable and fraternal help” from their neighbor, Saba added.
Saleh decided on Sunday to allocate $100 million in aid for victims of more than two days of deadly flooding.
The UN refugee agency, citing government figures, said yesterday that 180 people died in the floods, which also forced more than 10,000 people to flee their homes.
The latest official toll from Sanaa yesterday was 91 dead.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees spokesman Ron Redmond said in Geneva that the death toll was provided by the government in Sanaa on Monday, but cautioned that “these figures cannot be confirmed as several areas remain inaccessible.” The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said its latest figures put the death toll at 69, with 1,700 houses destroyed or damaged and infrastructure left in tatters.
The UNHCR said it had already sent 11 trucks to the affected areas carrying nonfood items to 3,500 people, such as mattresses, blankets, jerry cans and mosquito nets.
The World Health Organization, meanwhile, said it was sending medicines and other supplies to treat more than 50,000 people for conditions such as diarrhea and malaria.
The United Arab Emirates and Oman have also sent material aid such as tents and foodstuffs.
