Countries and organisations around the world, including the US, the UN and the EU, on Sunday scrambled aid to the Philippines as the devastation wreaked by Super Typhoon Haiyan became clearer. US military help was on its way, after the Pentagon said Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel was responding to a request from Manila for assistance.
It included search-and-rescue ships and transport aircraft deployed from the United States' Pacific deployments. UN leader Ban Ki-moon promised UN humanitarian agencies would "respond rapidly to help people in need".
The UN children's fund UNICEF said a cargo plane carrying 60 tonnes of aid including shelters and medicine would arrive in the Philippines Tuesday, to be followed by deliveries of water purification and sanitation equipment.