October 13, 2016 - 3:21 PM
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will visit hurricane-ravaged Haiti on Saturday.
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric announced Thursday that Ban will meet with communities affected by Hurricane Matthew as well as government officials and humanitarian workers.
The U.N. chief is also expected to visit the city of Les Cayes, one of the hardest-hit areas, with provisional President Jocelerme Privert, he said.
Dujarric appealed to donors to contribute to the $120 million U.N. appeal to help hurricane victims, saying only 5 per cent of the funds have been received.
The Haitian government says more than 1.4 million people urgently need humanitarian assistance.
The official death toll is 473, though local officials have reported figures suggesting it will eventually be higher, and the homes of more than 120,000 families were damaged or destroyed.
News from © The Associated Press, 2016