FREETOWN - Aid workers in Sierra Leone have managed to distribute aid to about 7,000 people stranded or made homeless by torrential rains in the south of the country, but another 10,000 remain out of reach, the Red Cross said.
"We have been able to access eight towns and bring food and non-food items which including blankets, and to supply them with jerry cans to fetch clean drinking water," said the local Red Cross disaster management coordinator, Vandy Sonnah.
He told reporters on Wednesday 800 children were among those who had received assistance in the Pujehun district, which lies near the Atlantic Coast around 300 km (185 miles) south of the capital Freetown.
"Ten thousand more are still trapped in 11 towns in the district as the roads and bridges are still inaccessible and the rain continues to pour heavily," he said.
"The situation is still desperate, the condition of the victims is terrible as they are malnourished, especially the children who are anaemic," he said, adding the Red Cross only had a week's worth of food stocks left.
Officials said earlier this month the relentless rains had killed at least 20 people. Aid workers built makeshift shelters as floodwaters destroyed around 1,000 houses and swept away hundreds of cattle and chickens.
Sonnah said there were reports that 10 more people, including three children, had died but aid workers had not managed to confirm that.
He said the floods were spreading to the neighbouring districts of Bonthe and Moyamaba, and residents had been fleeing into neighbouring towns and villages in search of shelter.
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
