Britons donate £12m to flood appeal

A Pakistani flood victim sits in the rubble of his house near Peshawar, Pakistan (AP)
12 April 2012

Donations made by the British public to help victims of the worst floods in Pakistan's history have reached £12 million, UK charities said.

The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) said more than 600,000 survivors have been provided with emergency care, clean water, food or shelter as a result of British aid.

The United Nations has launched an appeal to raise £293 million for the country, with an estimated seven million people in need of emergency assistance and medical care.

Approximately 1,500 people have already been killed by the floods, which hit the country more than two weeks ago and spread south through thousands of small villages.

Aid agencies earlier warned that six million children in flood-ravaged areas were at risk of life-threatening diarrhoeal diseases, malnutrition and pneumonia.

Doctors fear stagnant flood plains in densely populated, poverty-stricken urban areas may become breeding grounds for cholera, mosquitos and malaria.

DEC chief executive Brendan Gormley said: "As flooding continues to affect millions of people in Pakistan, the British public are still giving generously to the DEC Pakistan Floods Appeal."

To make a donation, call the 24-hour hotline on 0370 60 60 900, visit http://www.dec.org.uk or donate over the counter at any post office or high street bank, or send a cheque.

People can also donate £5 by texting the word GIVE to 70707.

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