This will enable the ICRC and its Red Cross and Red Crescent partners to add to the support being provided for the Uzbek authorities as they attempt to deal with this major refugee crisis. Another plane loaded with humanitarian relief is expected to reach Andijan this coming Sunday.

In Uzbekistan, an ICRC team together with the Uzbek Red Crescent, first on the scene, has begun to assess the needs of over 100,000 refugees who have gathered in Andijan, Fergana and Namangan, close to the Uzbek-Kyrgyz border.

"The people who crossed the border, most of them women and children, need sanitary and hygiene materials in addition to food and shelter. Many people also said that they had difficulties in contacting loved ones who had remained in Kyrgyzstan," said Kapil Sharma, an ICRC doctor in Andijan. He was also able to start assessing the situation of the wounded in medical facilities.

Besides continuing to aid the refugees, the ICRC is also working on restoring communication between families separated by the Uzbek-Kyrgyz border.