Generous people in Oxfordshire have already donated £7,000 to a Nicaraguan city wrecked by Hurricane Mitch.

The Oxford-Leon twinning link launched an appeal to buy food, medicines, water purifying tablets and materials to provide shelter.

Hurricane Mitch hit the country on November 1 and wreaked devastation throughout the area, leaving thousands dead and many more thousands homeless.

The Oxford trust has received a report on the situation from the Town Hall of Leon, with which Oxford has been twinned for 11 years.

The final death toll in Leon is not yet clear, although 16 are confirmed dead, 33,369 homeless, 92 disappeared, 60 injured, 34 communities isolated, nine bridges destroyed and 1,237 homes wrecked.

The report said: "After the untold human misery has been counted, great sadness will also come for those who have fought so hard to make their lives and country better over the years." May Wylie, Oxford City Council's international officer, said: "The rivers are totally polluted so a great deal of our appeal money is going to emergency medicine and water purification tablets."

Members of Christian Aid are travelling to the Central American country on Monday with goods handed in at the church of St Michael at the Northgate in Oxford. There will be a collection for the appeal at the Westgate Centre today.

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