Brussels, 15/02/2001 (Agence Europe) - Announcing, this Thursday, its intention to shortly free an aid of between EUR 5 and 8 million, the European Commission promptly reacted to the second earthquake to have hit El Salvador in a month.
The principal of granting this emergency aid to the devastated regions is thus acquired, without the exact amount have yet been decided upon. The aid will be passed on through the ECHO channels, the Communities humanitarian office, towards the Office's partner NGOs and towards other international agencies.
ECHO had already contributed towards the assistance to the victims of last January's earthquake by allocating an emergency aid of EUR 2 million. A new aid being under study when the second earthquake hit El Salvador. The aid announced on 15 February will as a result be aimed at answering the humanitarian needs caused by the two disasters. ECHO is presently in talks with its partners on the field to determine the additional needs created by the new earthquake and to assess with precision the amounts of aid to be freed.