Geneva: The Red Cross today said it would send up to 100,000 tents to China to provide emergency shelter for millions of people left homeless after the devastating earthquake.

It will also look at supporting efforts to build thousands of semi-permanent shelters, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said in a statement.

Over five million people have been left homeless after the earthquake, and China last week appealed for 3.3 million tents or portable shelters.

Chinese state media said over 420,000 houses collapsed in Sichuan province after two fresh aftershocks hit the area in the afternoon.

Xinhua news agency, quoting local disaster relief headquarters, said the houses were in Qingchuan County and added 63 people had been injured there as a result, six of them critically.

So far, the Chinese Red Cross has already provided over 18,000 tents to survivors.

"Although these tents are far from the comforts of their former homes, they will provide families with a dry place to sleep until more permanent structures are built," said Carl Naucler, head of the IFRC delegation in Beijing.

More than 200 Red Cross trucks are also transporting relief items on a daily basis, the agency added.

Source : PTI