World unites to help tsunami victims

World unites to help tsunami victims

Associated Press, London/Crawford, Texas

People around the world pitched on Wednesday to help the millions left homeless and destitute by the Indian Ocean tsunamis, donating money, clothes, blood and even air miles to ferry doctors to the disaster scene.

U.S. President George W. Bush said on Wednesday the United States, India, Australia and Japan have formed an international coalition to coordinate worldwide relief and reconstruction efforts for the Asian region ravaged by a deadly earthquake and tsunamis.

"We will stand with them as they start to rebuild their communities," Bush said from his Texas ranch in his first comments on Sunday's disaster.

Bush pledged a multifaceted response from the United States that goes far beyond the US$35 million initially pledged, including U.S. military manpower and damage surveillance teams in the short term and long-term rebuilding assistance. He also called on Americans to donate cash to relief organizations to augment the response.

Villagers in rural England, Hong Kong tycoons and Singapore cab drivers contributed to the aid effort as the death toll rose again to over 70,000 on Wednesday. Thousands more were missing while hunger and disease threatened to claim tens of thousands more lives, according to the UN health agency.

In the village of Hatfield Broad Oak, 55 kilometers northeast of London, residents were collecting clothes and money for the earthquake victims.

"We are asking for children's clothes in particular," said Joan Miller, who works at the village Post Office Stores, where the Sri Lankan-born owner is coordinating the collection. "People just feel they need to do something."

The British government and aid agencies in Italy, Australia and Japan stressed, however, that money was the most appropriate gift because it afforded the most flexibility to respond to changing needs on the ground.

"As far as we are concerned, the only concrete and useful help is funds," said Paola Ferrara of the Italian branch of Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders).

Hundreds of people have offered to go to quake-stricken areas to help or to give medicines or even take in injured or lonely children, UNICEF said. "But we do not need untrained people to go to the area or to shelter children outside their home countries, although this widespread response is a very positive sign that people care," UNICEF spokeswoman Donata Lodi said in Rome.

Italians had contributed some 5.6 million euros (US$6.82 million) -- many sending their donations by text message -- in response to an appeal launched by Italy's best-selling daily Corriere della Sera and private TG5 television.

Germany's Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer urged fellow Germans to help tsunami victims by spending a bit less on New Year's Eve fireworks this year and donating to charity instead. Germans spend about 100 million euros ($135 million) on the fireworks every year.

Aid agencies in Denmark and Norway said the response to their appeals had been overwhelming. Some 2,700 Scandinavians are missing in southern Asia after the tsunamis.

In Singapore, engineer William Lee, 44, said he'd sent 50 text messages to friends and relatives appealing for donations. "Money cannot bring back lost lives, but we can help out those who survived," Lee said after contributing to the Red Cross.

Movie star Jackie Chan donated HK$500,000 ($64,282) to UNICEF, the agency said.

The screen star's pledge was more than matched by the city's leading businessman, Li Ka-shing, Asia's richest man and head of a global commercial empire. He pitched in HK$24 million ($3.1 million).

The Asia Miles frequent flier program -- used by Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. -- sent an urgent e-mail to participants, asking them to donate their frequent flier miles to charities such as Oxfam Hong Kong and UNICEF.