Somalia's prime minister has appealed for international relief on Tuesday, saying over 100 Somalis had died, more than 150 people were injured and an unknown number displaced when tidal waves hit the Horn of Africa country.
"We invite the UN system to avail any rapid assistance in the form of food and medicine," Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Ghedi told a news conference in Kenyan capital Nairobi, where the Somali transitional president, the newly instated prime minister and most of parliament members are currently based.
Ghedi said he will lead a delegation to visit Somalia very soon to inspect the damage and coordinate relief supply.
At the same time, the World Food Program (WFP), a UN food aid organization, said they are sending 31,000 kg of rice, vegetable oil and beans to Puntland, one of the worst affected areas in Somalia.
"The relief package will benefit at least 300 families in the region," said Leo van der Velden, WFP's deputy country director to Somalia.
The tidal waves struck the Somali coast on Sunday as the effect of a series of strong undersea Sumatra earthquakes hit the east African coast.
The earthquake, measuring at 8.7 on the Richter Scale, was registered Sunday, west of the island of Sumatra, triggering tsunamis, or tidal waves, in south and southeast Asia.
At least 50,000 people in Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Maldives, Thailand and Malaysia have been killed in the disaster.