DHAKA: At least 110 people, most of them women and children, have died from starvation and drought-related illness in Somalia in the past 48 hours, Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire said Saturday.

Khaire made the announcement while speaking to the drought committee in Mogadishu, four days after President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo declared the drought a national disaster, reports CNN.

The death toll covers those who died in the rural areas of Somalia's southwestern Bay region where the drought is more severe than other parts of the country.

It was not immediately clear how many others have died in the rest of the country.

“The drought response committee briefed the PM about the humanitarian crises in the country that is threatening the lives of the people and their livestock who are on the brink of dying from hunger and watery diarrhea disease,” Khaire's office said.

Khaire has urged “business people and everyone to contribute to the drought response efforts aimed at saving the lives of the millions of Somalis dying of hunger and lack of water.”

The country has been hit by a severe drought that has affected more than 6.2 million people who are currently facing food insecurity and lack of clean water because of rivers that are drying up and recent years with little rain.

Earlier in the week, the United Nations' humanitarian coordinator for Somalia, Peter de Clercq, warned the drought could lead to famine.

Famine in Somalia killed roughly 258,000 people between 2010 and 2012, according to joint report by the United Nations and the United States Agency for International Development.

UNICEF lists Somalia among four nations where they say a total of 1.4 million children could die of severe acute malnutrition as famine looms. South Sudan, Nigeria and Yemen are also areas of heightened concern.

BDST: 1635 HRS, MAR 02, 2017
AP