Over 90,000 affected by Himalayan landslide, Red Cross says

GENEVA, Aug 28 (Reuters) - ‌More than ​90,000 ​people are estimated to be directly affected by the Himalayan landslide and in urgent ‌need of humanitarian assistance, the Red Cross said ⁠on Friday, as aid officials voiced fears of further flooding.

"We ‌believe that at least ‌93,000 people have been affected and are in great need," David Fisher, head of delegation for the ​International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Nepal, told a Geneva press briefing.

"We're ⁠of course very concerned about the secondary flood," he added.

Fisher said ​that the organisation's trucks with relief supplies were blocked after a lake formed by the ​landslide broke its banks, temporarily ‌halting rescue operations.

Kamal Kishore, Head of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk ⁠Reduction, warned of further "cascading hazards that might unfold".

"In a sense, the disaster is not yet completely over. It is ⁠still unfolding in some ways," he said.

World Health Organization spokesperson ​Tarik Jasarevic said at the same briefing that six health facilities had been damaged in the landslide and that eight ‌healthcare workers were missing.

"Following a disaster of this scale, displacement, overcrowding and disruption to ‌water, sanitation and health services can increase the ⁠risk of infectious diseases, ‌including diarrhoea and ​respiratory illnesses," he said.

(Reporting by Emma Farge in Geneva, editing by Miranda Murray and Thomas ‌Seythal)

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