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| Britons donate £8m in cyclone aid | Britons donate £8m in cyclone aid |
| (about 23 hours later) | |
| People in the UK have donated £8m to the appeal to help survivors of the cyclone that has devastated Burma. | People in the UK have donated £8m to the appeal to help survivors of the cyclone that has devastated Burma. |
| The Disasters Emergency Committee, the UK umbrella group representing 13 major charities, said the resulting aid would reach 600,000 people. | The Disasters Emergency Committee, the UK umbrella group representing 13 major charities, said the resulting aid would reach 600,000 people. |
| Aid agencies had been worried that tensions between the Burmese government and the outside world might put people off giving to the appeal. | Aid agencies had been worried that tensions between the Burmese government and the outside world might put people off giving to the appeal. |
| DEC head Brendan Gormley said he was "delighted" by the generosity shown. | DEC head Brendan Gormley said he was "delighted" by the generosity shown. |
| Cyclone Nargis struck the politically isolated south-east Asian country more than two weeks ago, killing at least 78,000 people and leaving tens of thousands more at risk of disease and starvation. | |
| Desperate need | Desperate need |
| "I'm delighted that the British public have recognised what a difference their donations can make and are continuing to give," Mr Gormley said. | "I'm delighted that the British public have recognised what a difference their donations can make and are continuing to give," Mr Gormley said. |
| Whilst hundreds of thousands of people have been reached, there are many more who still desperately need our help Brendan GormleyDisasters Emergency Committee Burma: How you can help | Whilst hundreds of thousands of people have been reached, there are many more who still desperately need our help Brendan GormleyDisasters Emergency Committee Burma: How you can help |
| He urged people to continue donating to ensure food, water and medical supplies reach thousands of vulnerable people in the affected areas. | He urged people to continue donating to ensure food, water and medical supplies reach thousands of vulnerable people in the affected areas. |
| "This money is saving lives right now in Burma, but with a disaster of this magnitude there is always much, much more that could be done," he said. | "This money is saving lives right now in Burma, but with a disaster of this magnitude there is always much, much more that could be done," he said. |
| "Whilst hundreds of thousands of people have been reached, there are many more who still desperately need our help." | "Whilst hundreds of thousands of people have been reached, there are many more who still desperately need our help." |
| Aid 'moving' | Aid 'moving' |
| Save the Children, which is part of the DEC, warned on Sunday that 30,000 acutely malnourished children under five years of age were threatened with starvation. | Save the Children, which is part of the DEC, warned on Sunday that 30,000 acutely malnourished children under five years of age were threatened with starvation. |
| If they did not receive energy-rich food now they could die within weeks, the charity said. | |
| Prime Minister Gordon Brown this week condemned the Burmese regime's response to the disaster as "inhuman". | |
| EXTENT OF THE DEVASTATION See map and satellite images | EXTENT OF THE DEVASTATION See map and satellite images |
| However, Foreign Office minister Lord Malloch-Brown said on Sunday the aid operation was finally "starting to move". | |
| He said there were signs that Burma might accept a compromise brokered by Asian intermediaries to allow more foreign help, including allowing Western ships to deliver aid. | He said there were signs that Burma might accept a compromise brokered by Asian intermediaries to allow more foreign help, including allowing Western ships to deliver aid. |
| Several UK aid agencies have already been on the ground in Burma providing food, clean water and medical help. | |
| Muslim Aid said it has helped more than 250 families since arriving a week ago, and is about to distribute 500 food parcels. | |
| A team from Merlin, a medical emergency relief organisation, has delivered water purification, plastic sheeting, plastic bowls and soap to one of the country's islands. | |
| It says that without safe water for drinking and keeping clean, acute diarrhoea can claim lives in a matter of days. | |
| Boat and truck | |
| Some 500 Save the Children charity staff, who were already working in the country when the cyclone struck, have been distributing aid by boat and truck. | |
| They have reached 100,000 people in townships across Rangoon - nearly half of them children, to provide food, water purification tablets, shelter, plastic sheeting, blankets, kitchen equipment and rehydration salts. | |
| The £8m raised through individual donations in Britain is in addition to the £17m in emergency aid already pledged for Burma by the UK government. | |
| That money is being distributed both to aid agencies and the United Nation's World Food Programme. | That money is being distributed both to aid agencies and the United Nation's World Food Programme. |
| To make a donation to the DEC Burma Cyclone Appeal call 0870 60 60 900 or visit www.dec.org.uk | To make a donation to the DEC Burma Cyclone Appeal call 0870 60 60 900 or visit www.dec.org.uk |
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