October 26, 2008	Sunday	Shawwal 26, 1429

SANAA, Oct 25: Aid operations swung into higher gear in Yemen on Saturday after floods killed at least 58 people and six more died from lightning strikes during two days of fierce storms.

The interior ministry, updating an earlier toll, said at least 58 people died in flooding fed by torrential downpours that hit Hadramaut and Mahara provinces on Thursday and Friday.

At least five others were reported missing in Mahara.

Four people were also killed by lightning in the southern provinces of Tayez and Lahj, and a mother and son also died when struck by lightning in the Al-Mahwit region north of the Yemeni capital Sanaa.

But the toll could rise even further as rescue teams searched for victims who may still be trapped in homes swept by the floods and as the authorities launched an airlift to fly aid to the stricken areas.

A first batch of six aircraft took off from Sanaa on Saturday loaded with tents, food and medicine for the Hadramaut capital of Al-Mukalla and Mahara, airport officials said.

“Other airlifts are scheduled for later in the day,” one official said, adding that public and private organisations had joined ranks to help victims of the disaster.

The Organisation of the Islamic Conference described the situation as a “national catastrophe” and launched on Saturday a drive to collect funds to help Yemen’s flood victims.

OIC chief Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, in a statement issued in the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah, urged members of the 57-strong Islamic body as well as charity organisations in Muslim countries to help Yemen surmount “the grave humanitarian crisis”. Ihsanoglu called for “OIC solidarity with the people of Yemen in these difficult circumstances” and also urged the international community to provide assistance to Yemen, one of the world’s least developed nations.

The oil-rich United Arab Emirates has said it will send emergency aid.

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh toured Al-Mukalla on Friday to oversee operations after tasking a government commission with handling the rescue effort.—AFP