Web page to reunite Katrina victims

The international Red Cross said today it had launched a special website to help victims of Hurricane Katrina make contact with family members and friends.

“People in the disaster area can register on the web page to inform their family and friends that they are safe and provide their current contact details,” said a statement by the International Committee of the Red Cross from Geneva.

The US page has been added to the ICRC’s website that also includes links for the Bay of Bengal, Somalia, Haiti, the 2003 Gulf war, Angola, Liberia-Sierra Leone, Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Relatives and friends outside the area can check the list or register the names of people they are looking for, the ICRC said.

It said it was providing the service jointly with the American Red Cross and was relying on people to use it responsibly because it was unable to verify the accuracy of the information posted.

People who have re-established contact can follow instructions to be removed from the list, it said. French and Spanish versions will be added by tomorrow to the initial English-language version.

www.familylinks.icrc.org/katrina