UNHCR aid for Central Asia earthquake victims

Yesterday UNHCR, in coordination with authorities, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance and the UN Country Team in Kyrgyzstan, dispatched a first consignment of 400 mattresses and 1,500 blankets from its warehouse in Osh to aid victims of the strong earthquake that struck the remote mountainous region of Kyrgyzstan, close to its borders with Tajikistan and China, overnight Sunday. UNHCR also provided an interagency assessment team, dispatched from Osh into the affected areas, with urgently needed communications equipment. Today, as more information from the disaster area is being received, we and our partners continue to assess humanitarian needs and how our emergency stocks in Osh could be used to relieve the victims of the earthquake.