New York: Last week’s eruption of La Soufrière volcano in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, has left the entire population of the main island without clean water and electricity, United Nations (UN) Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Monday.
Citing reports from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Dujarric added that about 20,000 evacuees on the Caribbean island are currently in need of shelter.
"The eruption has affected most livelihoods in the northern part of the island, including banana farming, with ash and lava flows hampering the movement of people and goods," he told journalists at the daily news briefing.
Although the volcano had been dormant since 1979, it started spewing smoke and actively rumbling in December.
La Soufriere erupted last Friday, blanketing Saint Vincent in a layer of ash and forcing some 16,000 residents to evacuate their homes to cruise ships and safer parts of the island.
Emphasizing that access to the island is limited, Dujarric said that along with the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency, the UN has mobilized pre-positioned water and sanitation hygiene supplies, currently stored in nearby Barbados.
Over the weekend, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spoke to Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves and the Government officially asked for UN assistance.
The aid includes relief items, food and cash distribution and technical advice while neighbouring countries are contributing emergency supplies and assets to support evacuation, according to the UN spokesperson.
Cek Berita dan Artikel yang lain di Google News
FOLLOW US
Ikuti media sosial medcom.id dan dapatkan berbagai keuntungan
