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| Syria Madaya: Second aid convoy heads for besieged town | Syria Madaya: Second aid convoy heads for besieged town |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The second convoy of aid lorries in a week has set off for the rebel-held Syrian town of Madaya, which is under siege from government forces. | |
| About 50 trucks left the capital Damascus on Thursday, heading towards the town near the Lebanese border. | |
| The UN has said it has received credible reports of people dying of starvation in Madaya, where about 40,000 people have been trapped. | The UN has said it has received credible reports of people dying of starvation in Madaya, where about 40,000 people have been trapped. |
| On Monday the first aid was allowed into the town since October last year. | On Monday the first aid was allowed into the town since October last year. |
| At the same time aid lorries also reached Foah and Kefraya, two northern towns besieged by rebel forces where the humanitarian situation is also said to be dire. | At the same time aid lorries also reached Foah and Kefraya, two northern towns besieged by rebel forces where the humanitarian situation is also said to be dire. |
| The latest delivery for Madaya is carrying flour, medicine and hygiene products for the town's residents, reports say. | |
| A UN official who visited the town during the last aid drop said conditions there were the worst he had seen during Syria's five-year civil war. | |
| People have reportedly been eating grass and pets to survive. | |
| Madaya has been besieged since early July by government forces and their allies in Lebanon's Shia Islamist Hezbollah movement. | |
| Blockades have been a feature of Syria's conflict. Up to 4.5 million people live in hard-to-reach areas, including nearly 400,000 people in 15 besieged locations who do not have access to life-saving aid. |