Post by Jack on May 5, 2008 16:09:14 GMT
Source: BBC
The death toll from a devastating cyclone that hit western Burma on Saturday has now climbed to 3,939 people, state television says.
All those deaths were recorded in Rangoon and Irrawaddy, only two of five regions declared disaster zones.
Many more are feared dead in devastated outlying regions not yet reached by authorities or aid agencies.
A member of the ruling junta told diplomats in Rangoon that the final toll could reach 10,000.
Many thousands of survivors are lacking shelter, drinking water, power and communications.
In the past, the Burmese authorities have treated foreign aid with some suspicion but this time the junta that rules Burma has accepted offers of international help, and aid shipments are now being prepared.
Toll multiplies
Nargis hit the south-east Asian country on Saturday with wind speeds reaching 190km/h (120mph).
Earlier on Monday, the death toll was put at a minimum of 351, but later reports from state media vastly increased the known death toll more than 10-fold.
A further 2,879 people were missing and 41 injured.
In addition to those known to have been killed in Rangoon and Irrawaddy, thousands more people may have died in the towns of Bogalay and Laputta, in Irrawaddy, according to the report on state TV.
None of the figures have been independently confirmed.
The BBC is not permitted to report from Burma, also known as Myanmar.
Houses 'skeletal'
But reports from the storm-hit region say thousands of buildings have been flattened, power lines downed, trees uprooted, roads blocked and water supplies disrupted.
A Rangoon resident who spoke to relatives in Laputta has told BBC Burmese that 75% to 80% of the town was destroyed.
He said houses along the coast had been reduced to skeletal structures while, further along the coast, 16 villages had been virtually wiped out.
No help had yet reached Laputta, he said.
Pictures on state TV showed security services working to clear roads to allow help through, but in Rangoon and elsewhere there were complaints that the response to the disaster was weak.
"Where are the soldiers and police? They were very quick and aggressive when there were protests in the streets last year," a retired government worker complained to Reuters news agency.
He was referring to protests led by Buddhist monks last year that were quickly put down.
Earlier, a BBC journalist monitoring the situation in Burma from Bangkok, Soe Win, said the shortages of power and water were particularly critical.
"What [people] are saying is that if the situation continues for another two or three days, that will be really, really difficult for them," he said.
Aid assessment
UN disaster response official Richard Horsey confirmed that several hundred thousand people were in need of shelter and clean drinking water.
However, he said it was impossible to tell exactly how many people had been affected because of damage to the roads and telephone systems.
The UN and international aid agencies have sent assessment teams to the worst-hit areas and shipments are being prepared as more offers of help come in.
Aid agencies had brought some emergency supplies into Burma ahead of the cyclone season - but nowhere near enough to cope with the devastation inflicted by Cyclone Nargis.
Thailand has announced it is flying in a transport plane loaded with nine tonnes of food and medicines.
Meanwhile, India says it is dispatching two naval ships carrying food, tents, blankets, clothing, and medicines immediately from Port Blair.
In a statement, the military junta said a referendum on a proposed new national constitution scheduled for next Saturday would still go ahead, insisting Burmese people were "eagerly looking forward to voting".
If the death toll of nearly 4,000 is confirmed, Tropical Cyclone Nargis would be the world's deadliest storm since a 1999 cyclone in India, which killed up to 10,000 people.
The death toll from a devastating cyclone that hit western Burma on Saturday has now climbed to 3,939 people, state television says.
All those deaths were recorded in Rangoon and Irrawaddy, only two of five regions declared disaster zones.
Many more are feared dead in devastated outlying regions not yet reached by authorities or aid agencies.
A member of the ruling junta told diplomats in Rangoon that the final toll could reach 10,000.
Many thousands of survivors are lacking shelter, drinking water, power and communications.
In the past, the Burmese authorities have treated foreign aid with some suspicion but this time the junta that rules Burma has accepted offers of international help, and aid shipments are now being prepared.
Toll multiplies
Nargis hit the south-east Asian country on Saturday with wind speeds reaching 190km/h (120mph).
Earlier on Monday, the death toll was put at a minimum of 351, but later reports from state media vastly increased the known death toll more than 10-fold.
A further 2,879 people were missing and 41 injured.
In addition to those known to have been killed in Rangoon and Irrawaddy, thousands more people may have died in the towns of Bogalay and Laputta, in Irrawaddy, according to the report on state TV.
None of the figures have been independently confirmed.
The BBC is not permitted to report from Burma, also known as Myanmar.
Houses 'skeletal'
But reports from the storm-hit region say thousands of buildings have been flattened, power lines downed, trees uprooted, roads blocked and water supplies disrupted.
A Rangoon resident who spoke to relatives in Laputta has told BBC Burmese that 75% to 80% of the town was destroyed.
He said houses along the coast had been reduced to skeletal structures while, further along the coast, 16 villages had been virtually wiped out.
No help had yet reached Laputta, he said.
Pictures on state TV showed security services working to clear roads to allow help through, but in Rangoon and elsewhere there were complaints that the response to the disaster was weak.
"Where are the soldiers and police? They were very quick and aggressive when there were protests in the streets last year," a retired government worker complained to Reuters news agency.
He was referring to protests led by Buddhist monks last year that were quickly put down.
Earlier, a BBC journalist monitoring the situation in Burma from Bangkok, Soe Win, said the shortages of power and water were particularly critical.
"What [people] are saying is that if the situation continues for another two or three days, that will be really, really difficult for them," he said.
Aid assessment
UN disaster response official Richard Horsey confirmed that several hundred thousand people were in need of shelter and clean drinking water.
However, he said it was impossible to tell exactly how many people had been affected because of damage to the roads and telephone systems.
The UN and international aid agencies have sent assessment teams to the worst-hit areas and shipments are being prepared as more offers of help come in.
Aid agencies had brought some emergency supplies into Burma ahead of the cyclone season - but nowhere near enough to cope with the devastation inflicted by Cyclone Nargis.
Thailand has announced it is flying in a transport plane loaded with nine tonnes of food and medicines.
Meanwhile, India says it is dispatching two naval ships carrying food, tents, blankets, clothing, and medicines immediately from Port Blair.
In a statement, the military junta said a referendum on a proposed new national constitution scheduled for next Saturday would still go ahead, insisting Burmese people were "eagerly looking forward to voting".
If the death toll of nearly 4,000 is confirmed, Tropical Cyclone Nargis would be the world's deadliest storm since a 1999 cyclone in India, which killed up to 10,000 people.
