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Satnews Daily
March 1st, 2010

United Nations — SatPhones To Chile


The United Nations is sending 45 satellite phones to Chile for officials coordinating earthquake relief efforts and is prepared to send 30 tons of food and other aid if the government gives the green light, the top U.N. representative for Latin America said Monday. The U.N. is also waiting to hear whether the government wants the world body to launch a financial appeal to help the country recover from the massive quake, as it did after the recent earthquake in Haiti, Alicia Barcena, executive secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, told reporters at U.N. headquarters from her base in the Chilean capital, Santiago.

Chile's government is "well-organized to respond" to the crisis but has appealed to the U.N. and governments in the region and elsewhere for specific emergency needs, including temporary bridges, field hospitals, satellite phones, electric generators, damage assessment teams, water purification systems, field kitchens and dialysis centers, Barcena said. She said the U.N. is sending 25 satellite phones from Geneva and 20 from New York which will arrive in Santiago Tuesday and be immediately given to Chile's Office of Emergencies and Disaster Management. It is coordinating the response to Saturday's magnitude 8.8 earthquake, which killed more than 700 people, destroyed or badly damaged 1.5 million homes and affected almost 2 million people, she said, quoting official reports.