BEIRUT — The United Nations expressed alarm on Thursday at widespread reports of starvation in a besieged town west of the Syrian capital of Damascus, welcoming a promise from Syria’s government to allow aid to reach the hungry people there soon.

No food has reached the rural town of Madaya since October, and desperate residents say they have been eating cats and grass to stay alive. Photographs posted on the Internet have shown images of frail, skeletal people amid reports that there have been several deaths from malnutrition.

Hassan Abu Shadi, a rescue worker in Madaya contacted by telephone, said one or two people had been dying of hunger daily since snow fell on the mountain town late last month, for a total of 20 deaths so far.

“We were eating leaves and grass, but these days there are no more leaves because of the snow,” he said. “There is nothing left but salt and water.”

The United Nations said in a statement that it had received “credible reports of people dying from starvation and being killed while trying to leave” the town, an opposition stronghold that has been under siege by pro-government forces since July.

“Almost 42,000 people remaining in Madaya are at risk of further hunger and starvation,” the statement said.

The U.N. said the Syrian government promised to allow aid to be delivered to Madaya, as well as the two other towns under siege by rebels, “in the coming days.”

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