UN official describes shocking conditions in Malanje

An estimated three to four people are reportedly dying daily of hunger in the besieged central Angolan city of Malanje where humanitarian officials described conditions as the worst they have seen in three decades of civil war. Francesco Strippoli, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator and World Food Programme (WFP) representative, who visited the government-held city on Wednesday, told IRIN the scale of the tragedy was "incredible" and one of the worst he had ever witnessed: "Thousands of children and the elderly are in really unbearable conditions." Last week, A joint UN/Non-Governmental Organisation survey team visited Malanje. Crammed with 130,000 displaced people, it has been without regular relief supplies since the beginning of the year when UNITA rebels began shelling the city. A World Vision report said no food was available for general distribution while only minimal supplies were reaching the most vulnerable. Fernando Chidundo, World Vision's Malanje base-coordinator said: "Malanje is very, very bad. People are falling down in the streets of hunger. Children are dying, and vulnerable adults as well. There is no food and no seed and there are no agricultural activities going on ... it is suffering too much." The first food convoy since the end of May left Luanda for Malanje on Tuesday. Strippoli said the humanitarian community planned to return "within a matter of days to put in place immediate humanitarian assistance distribution to deal with the crisis we face today." However, security along the 350 km of road from Luanda east to Malanje remains precarious and UNITA are still within shelling range of the city. "We hope that conditions will allow for the humanitarian community to return with safety," Strippoli said.