Hundreds Dead in Cholera Epidemic

A cholera epidemic in drought-hit southern Somalia has killed hundreds of people, including at least 80 in the last three days, health officials said. They said 50 people had died in and around the towns of Dinsor and Qansahdhere in the Bay region. Nearly 400 deaths had been recorded in the area in the last two weeks. In nearby Bardera, 30 people have died in the last three days, district commissioner Mohamud Abdi Takuul said. Officials said many more people might have died in remote villages. The region has been hit by a drought that is afflicting much of eastern Africa this year.