Over 90,000 affected by Himalayan landslide, Red Cross says

GENEVA, Aug 28 (Reuters) – More than 90,000 people are estimated to be directly affected by the Himalayan landslide and in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, the Red Cross said on Friday, as aid officials voiced fears of further flooding.

“We believe that at least 93,000 people have been affected and are in great need,” David Fisher, head of delegation for the International Federation ​of Red Cross and ​Red Crescent Societies in Nepal, told a Geneva press briefing.

“We’re of course very concerned about the secondary flood,” he added.

Fisher said that the organisation’s trucks with relief supplies were blocked after a lake formed by the landslide broke its banks, temporarily halting rescue operations.

Kamal Kishore, Head of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, warned of further “cascading hazards that might unfold”.

“In a sense, the disaster is not yet completely over. It is still unfolding in some ways,” he said.

World Health Organization spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic said at the same briefing that six health facilities had been damaged in the landslide and that eight healthcare workers were missing.

“Following a disaster of this scale, displacement, overcrowding and disruption to water, sanitation and health services can increase the risk of infectious diseases, including diarrhoea and respiratory illnesses,” he said.

(Reporting by Emma Farge in Geneva, editing by Miranda Murray and Thomas Seythal)

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