BEIJING - China's Red Cross Society on Wednesday announced that it will donate 8 million yuan ($1.25 million) to famine-plagued countries in the Horn of Africa for emergency humanitarian aid.

Two million yuan will go to Kenya through the country's Red Cross organization and another 2 million for Ethiopia, while the other 4 million yuan will help other countries in the region.

It is reported that some 12.4 million people in Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia and other countries in the region are in dire need of food due to the most serious drought since the 1980s.