BEIJING, April 30 (Reuter) - The European Union has pledged to give $715,000 to help

tens of thousands of ethnic Tibetan herders hit by snowstorms, Xinhua news agency said on

Tuesday.

The EU is to provide humanitarian aid to Tibetan herders through Medecins Sans

Frontieres (MSF), a Belgian non-governmental aid organisation, Xinhua said.

MSF is providing food, medical aid and blankets to some 72,000 Tibetans whose yaks and

herds of sheep died in snowstorms in February.

Chinese officials have said they need 100 million yuan ($12 million) in long-term aid for

Tibetan herders.

More than 20,000 people in Tibet suffered from frostbite or were blinded by snow and

700,000 yaks were killed as temperatures plunged to minus 47 degrees Celsius (minus 52

Fahrenheit) in February.