Finland has sent three disaster relief experts to Tacloban, the Filipino city that was worst-hit by Typhoon Haiyan.
The Interior Ministry says that it has sent three relief workers to the disaster zone in Tacloban. They travelled with fellow experts from Denmark and Luxembourg, reported Finnish Yle.
The Finnish team will work through the International Humanitarian Partnership, a multilateral body that co-ordinates aid efforts from Holland, Estonia, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, the UK and Norway. Finland’s experts bring knowhow in building and maintaining relief camps, which are in dire need in the areas hit by Typhoon Haiyan.
Interior Minister Päivi Räsänen says that participation in the relief effort is important, and urges Finns who want to help in the relief effort to make contributions to NGOs sending aid. She said that Finn Church Aid and the Red Cross both work effectively to provide relief, and that help is needed long after the tragedy disappears from the headlines.
The Foreign Ministry said on Monday that several Finns known to have been in the disaster area remain unaccounted for. The ministry did not clarify how many people were affected, and emphasised that the situation is fluid. As people are contacted, new requests to contact missing persons arrive.
On Sunday a ministry spokesman had said that of the fifty Finns in the worst-hit area, ten had not been in touch.
Source: Yle
