730 children dead in Somalia nutrition centres

GENEVA: Around 730 children have died in nutrition centres across Somalia since January, the United Nations said on Tuesday, warning the true figure could be much higher, with the country nearing famine.

Millions of people are at risk of starvation across the Horn of Africa, which is in the grip of the worst drought in four decades after four failed rainy seasons wiped out livestock and crops. "Malnutrition has reached an unprecedented level," said Wafaa Saeed, the Somalia representative for the UN children´s agency Unicef. "Around 730 children are reported to have died in nutrition centres across the country" between January and July, she told reporters in Geneva via video-link from Mogadishu.