World Food Programme To Provide Food To 20,000 People Displaced By The Earthquake In Balochistan

Main Category: Aid / Disasters
Article Date: 30 Oct 2008 - 6:00 PDT

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The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is to provide food assistance to nearly 20,000 people who lost homes and belongings in the earthquake that struck parts of Balochistan province on Wednesday.

"We need to move fast, so we are going to start distributing food stocks from our warehouses in Quetta and Peshawar, so we can reach the people who need it most," said WFP Pakistan Country Director, Wolfgang Herbinger, adding that WFP would be coordinating its response with the government and other UN agencies.

WFP plans to initially provide 700 tons of dry food rations to affected communities. The package includes wheat flour, pulses, edible oil and salt for two months.

An earthquake of 6.4 magnitude hit Balochistan province in south-western Pakistan leaving more than 170 dead and many hundreds injured. According to the meteorological office, the epicentre of the quake was in Chiltan mountains, some 80 kilometers northwest of Quetta. A wide area comprising small villages in Pishin, Ziarat, Qilla Abdullah, Chaman, Quetta, Loralai, Sibbi, Kachhi and Mastuj have been badly affected.

WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency and the UN's frontline agency for hunger solutions. This year, WFP plans to feed 90 million people in 80 countries.

WFP