UN: Somali refugees dying from exhaustion

THE United Nations says many Somali children are arriving at refugee camps in neighbouring Kenya and Ethiopia in such weak shape that they are dying within 24 hours despite emergency care and feeding.

A spokeswoman for the UN refugee agency says an unknown number of children under the age of five are dying from hunger and exhaustion as their families flee violence compounded by drought in Somalia.

Melissa Fleming said more than 135,000 Somalis have fled so far this year — including 54,000 in June, three times as many as in May.