Red Cross seeks funds to help Haiti

The Kenya Red Cross (KRC) has appealed for donations to assist survivors of the Haiti earthquake.

KRC secretary general Abbas Gullet on Friday urged Kenyans to contribute towards a fund that will assist victims of the Wednesday quake.

A trailing link was also set up to assist Kenyans looking for their relatives and friends in Haiti.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Kenya Red Cross, Mr Gullet said, have links where people can trace their missing friends and family members.

The ICRC link given is www.icrc.org/family links, where people within Haiti and abroad can learn more about their kin. The link given by KRC is www.kenyaredcross.org.

The earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale brought buildings down, including the presidential palace, and killed more than 50, 000 people.

Millions have been displaced.

“Kenyans have also benefited from international aid during floods, post election violence and when buildings collapsed,” said Mr Gullet.

Private sector

The Red Cross, he said, is working in conjunction with the private sector to raise funds.

Safaricom has set up an Mpesa account where donors can send money for Haiti. The number was given as 508000, under the account name “Haiti disaster fund”. No fee will be charged for the transaction.

The death toll from the devastating earthquake in Haiti may be as high as 50,000 to 100,000 people, the Pan American Health Organisation said on Friday.

“A variety of sources are estimating the numbers (at) between 50,000 and 100,000,” Jon Andrus of PAHO, the Americas arm of the World Health Organisation, told a news briefing.

Additional reporting by Reuters