South African mission begins in Mozambique

South African pilots are due to begin their operation later today Saturday to rescue people affected by the floods in Mozambique.

Four helicopters and three airplanes arrived in the Mozambique city of Beira on Friday to work with more than eighty South African military staff on the mission.

A BBC correspondent in Mozambique says the first priority will be to transport food, medicines and shelter to the camps, where conditions are dreadful.

Our correspondent says it's been hard to move supplies because the infrastructure in central Mozambique is almost non-existent and what roads it has are flooded. Earlier, Mozambique appealed for thirty million dollars in aid to help flood victims.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service