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Starving children

about 80,000 children in north Korea are in immediate danger of dying from hunger and disease and another 80,000 are suffering from malnutrition. Carol Bellamy, executive director of unicef , who along with international aid officials have gathered information from many parts of North Korea, said that if the shortages are not eased out by winter, the results could be catastrophic. "We are seeing children up to the age of 15 who are severely malnourished and in danger of dying. Starvation hits babies first; older children have more resistance. The children have been chronically short of food the whole year.'

While relief agencies are not able to estimate the number of North Koreans who may have already died, officials are forming a broader picture of the disaster facing the country of 24 million people after two years of floods and two months of severe drought. But aid workers are beginning to accumulate anecdotal evidence of deaths as they distribute food and medicine. The unicef has appealed for us $14.3 million aid to buy emergency supplies, particularly medicines and milk fortified with vitamins and minerals.

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