RIYADH – Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has ordered an urgent relief aid worth $10 million to assist the victims of the torrential rains and heavy floods which hit a number of states in Sudan. Finance Minister Dr. Ibrahim Al-Assaf said the assistance will be extended in coordination with other international relief agencies operating in the affected areas. “This assistance manifests the Kingdom's consistent policies of aiding people in distress,” he told the Saudi Press Agency (SPA). The minister said the Kingdom's relief aid was meant to alleviate the sufferings of tens of thousands of Sudanese people who lost their homes. About 30 people have been killed and more than 84,000 affected by the worst floods in years to hit the Khartoum state region, according to figures cited by the United Nations. Sudanese Interior Minister Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamed said the flooding had killed 53 people around the country. A total of 40,000 families, or about 200,000 people, have been affected, he said, quoting the Sudanese Media Center, which is close to the security apparatus, without giving a separate breakdown for the capital region. The UN's World Health Organisation, meanwhile, said the “flood and its consequences are anticipated to worsen.” House flies and mosquitoes have been seen in “high density” over the past two weeks in Khartoum, Red Sea and North Darfur states, it warned, adding that almost 31,000 latrines had been destroyed by the floods.
