Norway said Thursday it would give 14.5 million kroner (2.53 million dollars, 1.83 million euros) in urgent aid to help flood victims in Pakistan following a UN and Red Cross appeal. "The need for emergency aid is enormous and it is urgent that the aid is forthcoming, also to prevent epidemics," Norwegian Development Aid Minister Erik Solheim said in a statement.
The announcement came a day after the UN and Red Cross appealed for 55 million dollars in emergency aid for hundreds of thousands of victims, warning that an already dire situation could worsen. More than 67,000 homes have been destroyed in the flooding in Sindh, Balochistan, which was triggered by a tropical cyclone at the end of June and torrential rains, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said Wednesday.
Some 2.5 million people have been affected by the flooding and more than 377,000 have fled their homes in Balochistan and Sindh provinces, according to the UN humanitarian coordination office. About 280 people have died in the floods and 217 are missing, according to official Pakistani data cited by the UN on Wednesday.