United Nations, Sep 21 (IANS): The United Nations has released $2 million to kickstart Vietnam's response to Typhoon Yagi's widespread devastation, in which 290 people were killed, UN humanitarians said.

"National authorities report more than 290 deaths and damage to 237,000 homes, with 3 million people affected," the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Friday.

OCHA said that Acting UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Joyce Msuya allocated the $2 million from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) as seed money to support the government's humanitarian response efforts, Xinhua news agency reported.

"The funding will go to the International Organization for Migration, the UN Development Programme and UNICEF (the UN Children's Fund) to meet immediate life-saving needs in the most affected provinces of Yen Bai and Lao Cai," the office said.

OCHA said the CERF-funded response will focus on emergency shelter and water, sanitation and hygiene assistance focusing on communities with high levels of pre-existing vulnerabilities to meet the needs of the people most affected by the disaster.

The typhoon hit northern Vietnam two weeks ago, skirting the capital of Hanoi in the early hours of September 7.