Tracing the missing: Nearly 100,000 people have registered on a Red Cross web page set up to help trace family members missing or separated since Hurricane Katrina devastated the US Gulf Coast, a spokesman said yesterday.
The number of entries on the site, set up by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the American Red Cross, rose overnight from 65,000 to 94,000, according to ICRC spokesman Florian Westphal.
People in the disaster area can register on the web page to inform their family and friends that they are safe and to provide their contact details, while those looking for loved ones can check the list for information.
Hundreds of thousands of evacuees are taking refuge in shelters, hotels and private homes across the US after one of the country's worst natural disasters.
The ICRC has also sent five family-tracing experts to the US to help in the efforts.