News.com May 04, 2008
MORE than 240 people were killed when cyclone Nargis tore through Burma, an information ministry official said.
"According to the latest information we have, altogether 19 people were killed in Rangoon division and then about 222 people killed in Irrawaddy division,'' the official said today.
Nargis made landfall around the mouth of the Irrawaddy River, about 220km southwest of Rangoon, late on Friday before hitting the military-run country's economic hub of Rangoon.
The cyclone today and yesterday ripped down power lines, battered buildings and left uprooted trees and other debris scattered across the streets of Rangoon.
Five central and southern regions and states - Rangoon, Irrawaddy, Bago, Mon and Karen - have been declared disaster areas, the official said.
Police and army have been deployed throughout the worst-hit areas to start the clean-up operation.
The information ministry official said that seven empty boats had sunk in the country's main port, while Rangoon's international airport was closed until further notice with flights diverted to the city of Mandalay.
The storm cut most electricity and telecommunications in the nation just a week before a crucial referendum on its new constitution, the first polling in Burma since general elections in 1990.
Source
No comments:
Post a Comment