People Dying Of Thirst In Southern Somalia - Worst Drought In 40 Yrs - BBC

[hatrack]

People in southern Somalia are starting to die from thirst in the worst drought in over 40 years in some parts of the country, says aid agency Oxfam. Oxfam says assessment teams found seven people who died of dehydration, and that tens of thousands are now at risk.

People are surviving on the equivalent of three glasses of water a day, in temperatures of over 40C (100F). Oxfam reports an almost unprecedented situation, where people beg for water along the sides of the road.

All surface water has gone, boreholes are running dry, and people are walking up to 70km (45 miles) in search of water. The 830 ml available per person per day has to be used for drinking, cooking and washing.

"The situation is as bad as I can remember. Some people are dying and children are drinking their own urine because there is simply no water available for them to drink," Somali village elder Abdullahi Maalim Hussein told Oxfam.

EDIT

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4719296.stm

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. Silly Africans - if they're in a drought, they need to drink more water.

Geez. :eyes:


Oops, sorry, channeled a Conservative Christian for a moment.

[hatrack]

3. Either that, or pull themselves up by their bootstrap . . . wait, no shoes

I'll have to insert a Pat Robertson non-apology here. :puke:

[Dead_Parrot]

2. The shape of things to come... nt

[OneBlueSky]

4. can you imagine how many desperate people the U.S. could help . . .

with the money being pissed away by BushCo on the war, trailers and ice for Katrina, bridges to nowhere, and all the rest of it? . . . that we choose war instead of peace in a world with so much need is criminal . . .

and make no mistake . . . we have CHOSEN this war! . . .