UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund has confirmed that one third of the victims of the Asian floods are children.

According to Unicef, children account for a large proportion of casualties because they represent 39 per cent of the overall population in the eight hardest-hit countries. In some of the countries up to 50 per cent of the population are children.

Eyewitness accounts indicate that many children died because they weren't strong enough to hold on to fixtures or trees when huge tidal waves swept them off their feet.

"Kids can run but they were least able to withstand the flooding or hold on. So that is one of the reasons children have been particularly affected," Unicef executive director Carol Bellamy said.

Across the region, children have lost their parents to the sea, their homes have been washed away, they are living in areas with no water or electricity, no communications or phone contact.

Food is in short supply and life is as bad as can be imagined.

Arun, aged 12, lives in India. With fear in his eyes he described how the sea engulfed his home. As he noticed the huge tide chasing him and rising steadily above him, he ran with all the energy he could muster. His parents too have survived but he confesses he is afraid. "I want life to be normal," he says.

Arun is not alone. He is one of tens of thousands of children affected by the catastrophe whose lives have been turned upside down.

"The implications for children are enormous," said Carol Bellamy.

"First and foremost, children need to stay alive. They need shelter, they need blankets, they need food and clean water - and we can help with some of these.

"But they also need their families and to feel that they are connected to something. So we are also trying to make sure that the children who've been separated from their families are returned to their families or at least are receiving some assistance while we identify their families."

"In the long term children need to have some normality returned. Unicef is trying to make sure that as soon as possible kids get back into school. If there is any good news, it is that Unicef is on the ground at work and responding with the rest of the UN immediately.

Initial rounds of Unicef relief flights headed for the tsunami-affected region include:

Water purification tablets and oral re-hydration salts to combat diarrhoea.

A 45-ton shipment carrying primarily water-related supplies, emergency health kits, school supplies and recreation kits for children; this flight will land early Thursday.

A shipment of 20 tons of tarpaulins and tents from Belgium is due to arrive in Sri Lanka later on today.

UNICEF asks readers to please send whatever they can afford.

35p will pay for 5 oral rehydration sachets, enough to save a child's life.

Only £25 will provide enough blankets to keep 36 children warm at night.

£60 will provide emergency health kit supplies for 260 people for 3 months.

£100 buys enough water purification tablets to give more than 1,000 children a litre of clean water to drink