TACLOBAN - A US aircraft carrier sent mercy flights into the typhoon-smashed Philippines Friday, transporting food and supplies desperately needed for survivors still begging for help in wreckage strewn with bodies one week after the disaster.
The USS George Washington is "flying missions off the east coast of Samar", Philippine Air Force spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Miguel Okol told AFP, adding that the flights were heading to Guiuan -- the first town to be hit by Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan).
American soldiers were unloading aid from aircraft at the airport in the devastated city of Tacloban, on central Leyte, where thousands are feared to have died when Yolanda's record winds sent tsunami-like waves tearing across the island.
Aid has been excruciatingly slow to get through to hungry and homeless survivors, with United Nations humanitarian chief Valerie Amos admitting that the delivery of supplies had not been quick enough.
The UN and the Philippines government are in dispute over the extent of the death toll. The world body says 4,460 have been confirmed dead -- but the Philippines' National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council insisted the number remained at 2,360.
The USS George Washington Strike Group -- with 5,000 sailors on the huge carrier alone, and seven other ships -- arrived on Thursday with badly needed equipment, manpower and expertise, giving some hope to survivors that the delivery of aid would speed up.
"I heard there are now American planes," 28-year-old Merly Araneta said.
source: www.abs-cbnnews.com
