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Saudi Telethon Raises 15 Million Dollars for Tsunami Orphans | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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RIYADH (AFP) -More than 15 million dollars was raised on the first day of a telethon in Saudi Arabia for orphans of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

Among the callers were King Abdullah and Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, who donated 10 million and five million riyals (2.6 and 1.3 million dollars) respectively, the reports said Saturday.

The phone-in is expected to continue for a few more days. A previous telethon raised 84 million dollars for victims of the disaster.

The December 26, 2004 disaster, sparked by a powerful earthquake off Indonesia, claimed the lives of around 220,000 people in a dozen countries and left millions homeless.

The government of Saudi Arabia, the world’s leading oil exporter, had earlier donated 30 million dollars to help people whose lives were devastated by the giant waves that pounded Asian shorelines.