HMS Daring docks in Philippines

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 17 November 2013 | 19.13

17 November 2013 Last updated at 07:10 ET
HMS Daring

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Alistair Leithead, on board HMS Daring, says the crew have been analysing the area from the air as they prepare to distribute supplies

British warship HMS Daring has docked in the Philippines to help the UK's emergency response to Typhoon Haiyan.

The Type 45 destroyer and her crew arrived at the island of Cebu, in the crisis zone, to help people affected by the disaster.

The UK's international development secretary Justine Greening told the BBC that Britain is likely to commit more money to help victims.

Thousands have been killed and a number of British nationals remain missing.

The typhoon - which had some of the strongest winds ever recorded on land - has killed more than 3,600 people and left about 500,000 people homeless.

The UK has already committed £50m in aid and a public appeal has raised a further £30m.

Ms Greening said large amounts of relief supplies were starting to reach the country after the disaster nine days ago.

She said she expected a further increase in the need for aid in the near future.

'Stepping up supplies'

"I think we're likely to continue to review whether we need to do more," she told BBC Breakfast.

She said a lot of the focus had been on key cities such as Tacloban, but HMS Daring had been on reconnaissance missions over some of the smaller, more far-flung islands.

"It's likely that we'll see greater need being assessed and therefore it's likely that we're going to be stepping up our supplies and our help for the Filipino people over the coming days and weeks," she added.

HMS Daring has spent the last three days carrying out reconnaissance work in and around the Philippines.

A Lynx helicopter will fly shelter kits, food and medical supplies to remote areas which have not been reached by international relief teams.

Members of the 12-strong medical team from the UK, will also be flown to different areas to treat the injured.

Save the Children said a barge carrying more than 25 tonnes of aid items and household kits was expected to reach the country later.

BBC correspondent Alistair Leithead said the warship was moored two miles (3.2km) off the port and was preparing to set sail to some of the more remote islands.

He said the helicopter crew had been filming and taking photographs of the affected areas and analysing them to see what might be needed.

"I spoke to the commander of the helicopter who's been flying those missions and he said there's a band of about 10-15km (6-9 miles) all the way across where you can see the damage," Mr Leithead said.

"It's houses that have been destroyed, it's trees that are down."

He said the Lynx crew had seen people queuing for sacks of rice and and water in Cebu, but nothing in the remote areas.

"So that's what they've identified as being the place that they want to go to, the place that they need to take their supplies of aid," he said.

"They can take salt water and turn it into fresh water, they're bringing containers to fill up so they can give it out to people rather than delivering huge quantities to people."

He said a medical team from Save the Children would go out on the ground and assess whether people needed any immediate help.

An aid flight is due to leave East Midlands Airport with 95 tons of supplies from the Department for International Development (Dfid), Oxfam and Save the Children.

Ms Greening said: "This latest flight will be full of medical supplies, water tankers and forklifts to get aid moving and help clear bottlenecks at the airports.

"The British people have shown huge generosity over the past days, and Dfid is working with charities to make sure all their donations get to those who need it most."

Thousands of grieving survivors earlier attended church services in areas devastated by the typhoon.

In many places, including the mostly flattened city of Tacloban in Leyte province, Masses were held in half-destroyed and flooded churches.

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said "a number" of British nationals remain unaccounted for but did not confirm how many Britons are missing.

One of those unaccounted for is Colin Bembridge, 61, from Grimsby.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "We are working with local authorities and international partners to locate British nationals."


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