Helicopter Problem Slows U.N. Somali Rescue Bid

GENEVA —  Four helicopters urgently needed to rescue Somalis stranded after major floods that have claimed 1,472 lives are still in the United States, the United Nations said Friday.

The four Bell “Huey” helicopters, hired from a South African contractor, had been expected to begin rescuing survivors and ferrying food supplies in Somalia a week ago, U.N. sources said.

But they remain in Seattle because of a problem with customs, the sources said.

The U.N. Department for Humanitarian Affairs (DHA) said U.S. and South African diplomats were trying to resolve the issue.

“Four commercial helicopters which were hired by the flood response team have so far not arrived due to difficulties in their dispatch from the U.S.A., and efforts are being made by both the U.S. and South African diplomatic communities, as well as by DHA, to resolve the problem,” the department said in a statement.

“At present, especially with the eagerly awaited arrival of the helicopters, the operation needs to focus on immediate emergency rescue and relief to people who are at risk of drowning or starving,” it added.

It was not clear in Geneva whether any other helicopters were being used in the relief operation, being coordinated by the U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Nairobi, Kenya.

Boats are being used to evacuate stranded people and deliver aid.

The DHA said that heavy rains had spread to Uganda’s eastern region of Mbale, causing landslides that have killed at least 30 people and displaced about 2,500 in recent days.

In southern Somalia, where rains began a month ago, most deaths have been caused by drowning. Some victims have been crushed by collapsed buildings or have died from snakebites or crocodile attacks, the DHA said.

“Reports are increasingly being received on deaths from malaria, diarrhea and other diseases,” it said of Somalia, where at least 230,000 people have been displaced by floods.

The DHA estimates that up to 1 million people have been hit by the emergency in southern Somalia, where most roads are impassable and airstrips are also under water.