UN to airlift aid to hungry in Central Africa

The UN’s World Food Programme said yesterday it was running out of food aid to distribute in the conflict-ravaged Central African Republic and would begin flying in supplies from Cameroon. “The date when the air bridge will open has not yet been set but it is imminent,” WFP spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs told reporters in Geneva. She said a jumbo jet would make a round-trip daily carrying up to 100 tonnes of food. A new escorted convoy was expected yesterday to reach the capital, but it was unclear how many of the 43 WFP trucks still stuck at the border would make it to Bangui, Byrs told reporters.