Tsunami survivors and aid workers in the Solomon Islands complained yesterday that relief efforts were chaotic and slow as the disaster's scale became more clear, and the UN warned that thousands faced the threat of dangerous diseases.
Reports of diarrhea were becoming more widespread, and officials were worried about possible malaria and cholera outbreaks because of unsanitary conditions in makeshift high-ground camps where thousands fled on Monday's magnitude-8.1 earthquake and tsunami and were refusing to come down.
The UN put the death toll from Monday's disaster in western Solomon Islands as at least 34 -- higher than the Solomons' official tally of 28, though government officials say they expect more deaths to be confirmed.
PHOTO: EPA
The UN said it estimated 50,000 people were affected by the disaster -- 30,000 of them children who were "highly vulnerable" to diseases including malaria, which is endemic in the region. The government says 5,600 were left homeless. There has been no official tally of the missing.
Government officials conceded the aid effort was going more slowly than they wanted, but blamed the remoteness of the affected region and a shortage of supplies in the capital, Honiara, that could be shipped to the disaster zone.
Survivors picking through the rubble of shattered villages looking for food and supplies found more bodies yesterday, and grew increasingly frustrated that they were being left to fend for themselves, including burying their neighbors who were killed.
Military transport planes from New Zealand and Australia have flown in loaded with aid packages of tarps, water and food rations, and a police patrol boat has brought a shipment from Honiara.
"We are under-resourced, we need bigger vehicles," said disaster official Jonathan Taisia at the main Red Cross center in hard-hit Gizo town, as a chartered helicopter landed with the latest load of tarps and food.
Gizo's airport reopened yesterday, but Taisia said much of the aid coming into Gizo wasn't being distributed beyond depots because of vehicle shortages, and a lack of workers to load trucks or clear debris that had severed road links to outlying villages.
Drinking water is in extremely short supply in Gizo, as is food and medicine. Most aid was being delivered to Munda, on a nearby island, and a shortage of boats hampered efforts.
Most of the local fleet of canoes and other vessels was destroyed by tsunami waves that crashed ashore within minutes of the offshore quake Monday morning.
"We have a problem with water, and sanitation is a big issue that needs to be addressed urgently," said Allen Alepio, one of a team of six doctors and 15 nurses who rushed to Gizo on Wednesday after the hospital was washed out.
"We have reports coming in that there are diarrhea outbreaks in the surrounding areas," he said.
Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday sent inter-agency task force Taiwan International Health Action to the country to provide medical aid. The relief team comprises two doctors and one public health specialist.
additional reporting by Jewel Huang
An endangered baby pygmy hippopotamus that shot to social media stardom in Thailand has become a lucrative source of income for her home zoo, quadrupling its ticket sales, the institution said Thursday. Moo Deng, whose name in Thai means “bouncy pork,” has drawn tens of thousands of visitors to Khao Kheow Open Zoo this month. The two-month-old pygmy hippo went viral on TikTok and Instagram for her cheeky antics, inspiring merchandise, memes and even craft tutorials on how to make crocheted or cake-based Moo Dengs at home. A zoo spokesperson said that ticket sales from the start of September to Wednesday reached almost
TIGHTENING: Zhu Hengpeng, who worked for an influential think tank, has reportedly not been seen in public since making disparaging remarks on WeChat A leading Chinese economist at a government think tank has reportedly disappeared after being disciplined for criticizing Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in a private chat group. Zhu Hengpeng (朱恆鵬), 55, is believed to have made disparaging remarks about China’s economy, and potentially about the Chinese leader specifically, in a private WeChat group. Zhu was subsequently detained in April and put under investigation, the Wall Street Journal reported. Zhu worked for the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) for more than 20 years, most recently as the Institute of Economics deputy director and director of the Public Policy Research Center. He
CHINESE ICBM: The missile landed near the EEZ of French Polynesia, much to the surprise and concern of the president, who sent a letter of protest to Beijing Fijian President Ratu Wiliame Katonivere called for “respect for our region” and a stop to missile tests in the Pacific Ocean, after China launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). In a speech to the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday, Katonivere recalled the Pacific Ocean’s history as a nuclear weapons testing ground, and noted Wednesday’s rare launch by China of an ICBM. “There was a unilateral test firing of a ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean. We urge respect for our region and call for cessation of such action,” he said. The ICBM, carrying a dummy warhead, was launched by the
As violence between Israel and Hezbollah escalates, Iran is walking a tightrope by supporting Hezbollah without being dragged into a full-blown conflict and playing into its enemy’s hands. With a focus on easing its isolation and reviving its battered economy, Iran is aware that war could complicate efforts to secure relief from crippling sanctions. Cross-border fire between Israel and Hezbollah, sparked by Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7 last year, has intensified, especially after last week’s sabotage on Hezbollah’s communications that killed 39 people. Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon followed, killing hundreds. Hezbollah retaliated with rocket barrages. Despite the surge in
RSS