MOSCOW, September 4 (RIA Novosti) - Russian planes from the Emergency Situations Ministry fleet stay ready to deliver humanitarian aid to the victims of Hurricane Katarina in the United States, a ministry official said Sunday.However, the USA is still considering this offer, the official added."They [the U.S.] are still considering the offers of assistance coming from various countries," he said.Yevgeny Khorishko, press secretary of the Russian Embassy in the United States, earlier said the U.S. had received from Russia concrete offers of assistance to the hurricane victims.
"We are planning to send four planes from the ministry's fleet, a Il-62 with 60 rescue workers and equipment, a Il-76 with two helicopters and crews, and two transport planes with humanitarian aid," Khorishko said.
The hurricane's official death tall has reached 343 people, although some sources allege the number could be as high as several thousand.
