Deaths in Myanmar cyclone may top 100,000 [View All]

[Shoelace]

this is totally heartbreaking!!!


WASHINGTON, May 7 (AP) - (Kyodo)—(EDS: ADDING QUOTES, DETAILS)
The death toll from the cyclone that devastated the Irrawaddy delta in Myanmar last weekend may exceed 100,000, the top U.S. diplomat in the nation said Wednesday.

"The information that we're receiving indicates that there may well be over 100,000 deaths in the delta area," said Shari Villarosa, the charge d'affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Myanmar. She spoke with reporters by conference call from Yangon.

The new estimate came after Myanmar's state radio reported Wednesday night that the death toll from the cyclone has risen to 22,980.

It said 42,119 people were still missing and 1,383 injured in Cyclone Nargis that tore through the country from Friday to Saturday.

The latest death toll for Yangon, the largest city in Myanmar, is reported to be 679, Villarosa told reporters. The majority of causalities come from the Irrawaddy delta, which produces the majority of Myanmar's rice and fish.

The top U.S. diplomat in Myanmar described the situation in the delta, where 95 percent of the buildings have been destroyed and supplies of food and drinkable water are close to running out, as "more and more horrendous."

International aid started to trickle into Myanmar on Tuesday as the World Food Program distributed aid supplies in Yangon and other places. The country's military junta has also dropped food and water to the stricken people of the Irrawaddy delta.

A plane from Thailand and a plane from India, carrying disaster aid has also been let in, Villarosa said, but added, "Some assistance is getting in, but it is not nearly enough for all the people in need."

A U.N. department in charge of humanitarian assistance said Wednesday Myanmar has expressed its intention to accept a U.N. plane carrying aid supplies for cyclone victims.

But the junta has yet to issue visas for five U.N. staffers waiting in Bangkok for entry into Myanmar, a press officer of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.

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