CCF Calls for Urgent Aid to Disaster-Hit Inner Mongolia PeopleThe China Charity Federation (CCF) Friday appealed for domestic and overseas urgent aid to help the 1.35 million people who have been besieged by blizzard in Inner Mongolia, north China.CCF President Yan Mingfu said at a press conference that blizzard coupled with sandstorm plagued the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region from December 31 last year till January 3 this year, which was considered very rare for the past five decades. Snowstorm lasted more than 70 hours in some areas, where the highest temperature was only 30 degrees Centigrade below zero. More than 1.35 million people have been besieged and 22 are confirmed dead. About 22.3 million heads of livestock are affected while more than 80,000 others died. Direct economic loss is estimated at 910 million yuan (US$109.6 million). The bitter cold is still sweeping across the region, threatening the local people's life and property. The area is now in urgent need for clothes, cotton-wedded quilts, medicine, instant food and other materials including fodder for livestock. CCF has so far collected donations totaling 600,000 yuan and materials valued at 10 million yuan, Yan said. |
| People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/ |