MOSCOW, November 16 (RIA Novosti) – Some 1.6 million people have been forced to live under the open sky as refugee camps became quickly overcrowded after Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines, NHK news channel said Saturday.
The camps set up by local authorities and humanitarian organizations can house only 20 percent of the refugees, while a total 80 percent have been unable to find shelter and have been forced to build houses from trash found at the collapsed buildings, the report says.
Although a total of 23 countries, including Russia, the US and China, have offered assistance, humanitarian aid packages have failed to reach most victims over transportation problems.
Typhoon Haiyan, known locally as Yolanda, swept across the Philippines late last week, leaving up to 3,600 people dead, while another 1,200 have been unaccounted for, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. The typhoon has destroyed over 160,000 houses and damaged another 126,000.
