MOGADISHU, Somalia, July 15 (UPI) -- Five people, including three children, have died of exposure after fleeing the drought in Somalia, officials said.
They were among a group of people, after fleeing the drought, hit by days of heavy rain, the BBC reported Friday.
The victims were unable to find shelter from the cold rain and died of exposure, the report said.
Ironically, drought has devastated large parts of the Horn of Africa and some 10 million people in the region are affected, the BBC reported.
Doctor Osman Duflay told the BBC residents of the camps near Mogadishu were facing "disaster."
"Especially the under-fives and the pregnant women, they're suffering from malnutrition and communicable disease like the measles, diarrhea and pneumonia," Duflay said.
The country is also close to famine, said Mark Bowden, United Nations humanitarian affairs coordinator for Somalia.
"The next few months are critical," Bowden said.
The International Red Cross reported a major rise in malnutrition rates, even in the part of Somalia usually considered to be the breadbasket of the country.
