India Launches Relief Effort for Typhoon Haiyan Victims

India has announced plans to provide wide-reaching relief to the Philippines to support victims of Typhoon Haiyan.

With the official death toll standing at 1,774 amid fears that it could soar to at least 10,000, and with 800,000 people displaced, Indian external affairs minister Salman Khurshid confirmed that immediate supplies of food, medicines, fresh water and equipment would be sent to aid relief efforts.

"An aircraft with relief supplies is to leave with 15 tonnes of material," he told foreign ministers in Delhi.

The relief package consists of water purification tablets, chemicals, tents, blankets, mattresses, tarpaulins, sheets for shelter, cooked meals, biscuits and milk powder.

"As a follow-up measure, we intend to send a ship with more supplies to the affected areas and that will be equipped with more water treatment facilities, additional relief materials to provide rehabilitation measures as well as transport to effectively ameliorate the suffering of those who are affected. This will be done in the very near future," he added.

The devastating typhoon cast a shadow over the meeting of 34 foreign ministers from Europe and Asia.

The UK has announced plans to send the warship HMS Daring to aid the relief effort in the Philippines.

Prime minster David Cameron said that the warship, stationed near Singapore, will head to the disaster zone within the next five days to provide humanitarian assistance. Further support will be provided in harder to reach areas by at least one Boeing C-17 military transport aircraft.

The European Commission pledged €8m (£6.7m) to help the worst affected areas and upped the figure to €13m after the UN appealed for $300m in reconstruction and humanitarian aid. The EU's commissioner for development, Andris Piebalgs, said the money would go towards basic health, water, sanitation, shelter and power grid and infrastructure repairs.

China has promised to provide $100,000, while Japan will send an emergency medical relief team. Further aid has been pledged by several other countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Spain and Switzerland and the US.

Authorities in Tacloban, the hardest hit city, declared a state of emergency to restore law and order after looters ransacked shops after the worst of the storm.

Officials in Manila have doubled the number of people affected by the typhoon to 9.5 million and aid agencies have predicted that this number could rise even further because many areas have yet to be reached by rescue and assessment teams.

Although the official death toll stands at 1,774, officials fear the typhoon may have claimed up to 10,000 lives.

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