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A donation of US$1 million has been pledged to Hurricane Irma victims by the International OIympics Committee, IOC, to rebuild Caribbean sports organizations.
Seaking in the Peruvian capital Lima, the IOC President Thomas Bach said the funds will come from the Olympic Solidarity and the Pan-American Sports Organization (PASO).
"The IOC stands ready to help the National Olympic Committees of the affected countries to help them rebuild the sports infrastructure that has been destroyed," he said.
"All our sympathy and thoughts are with the victims and the families who have lost relatives in this natural disaster and with those who have lost their homes and livelihoods,” Bach said, adding that the IOC would monitor the need for additional funding, after the initial assessment was completed.
The IOC says it will cooperate with the region's National Olympic Committees in the coming days.
Described by meteorologists as one of the most powerful hurricanes to hit the Caribbean in a century, Hurricane Irma, to date, has caused 40 deaths and left a path of widespread destruction on several northeastern Caribbean Islands, especially Barbuda.
Among those to lose their lives during the storms last week was Dag Samuels, an athletics coach from the British Virgin Islands.
His death was mourned by many including the Caribbean Association of the National Olympic Committees.
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