KIND-HEARTED readers of the Lancashire Evening Telegraph continue to swell the coffers of our appeal to help children caught up in the Mozambique flood disaster.

Donations today topped £17,500, just a week after we joined forces with international aid agency UNICEF to help young victims of the crisis.

UNICEF's rescue operation to help people trapped in trees and on rooftops is now almost over, and aid workers are now concentrating on helping more than one million people in need of humanitarian assistance.

It is estimated that 190,000 children under five have been affected by the floods, and 473,000 are now in need of food.

Aid workers have helped set up 65 camps or accommodation centres in the country but 250,000 people including 46,000 youngsters have been displaced from their homes.

UNICEF's north west regional officer Kim Bohajczuk said the flood levels were now beginning to fall.

She said: "The levels of rivers and dams are slowly dropping but heavy rainfall is expected in Mozambique and they could rise again.

"The Limpopo River has dropped to seven metres from more than 11 metres at the height of the floods, but rain could cause more flooding."

There are now 29 helicopters and 24 planes helping the massive aid operation in Mozambique, including aircraft provided by the US and UK governments.

German and Belgium military personnel have now landed in the country to give their support.

The main concern for aid agencies like UNICEF is to provide safe drinking water and sanitation, while workers attempt to reunite children with their families through a formal register due to be compiled this week.

Staff at Tesco Metro in Blackburn Shopping Centre are collecting money in the store for the appeal.

Every day, more people are contacting UNICEF asking for fund-raising packs.

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