Myanmar appeals for aid after cyclone kills 10,000

Radio Newzealand 06 May 2008

An international aid effort is getting underway for Myanmar, where a cyclone on Saturday killed more than 10,000 people.

The military rulers of the country made a rare appeal for outside aid, which the United Nations says it is ready to deliver.

Foreign Minister Nyan Win said on state television that his government is ready to accept international assistance.

Some 3,000 people are believed to be missing in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis which swept through the Irrawaddy delta, with winds reaching up to 190km an hour, and bringing torrential rain.

United Nations World Food Programme spokesman Paul Risley says the organisastion will begin preparing assistance now to be delivered and transported to Myanmar as quickly as possible.

Thousands of survivors lack shelter, drinking water, power and communications, but in many regions help has not yet arrived.

Five regions, in which 24 million people live, have been declared disaster zones.

Thousands of buildings have been flattened, power lines downed, trees uprooted, roads blocked and water supplies disrupted.

Several hundred thousand people need shelter and clean drinking water, according to the UN disaster response office.

Toll could rise

Earlier on Monday, the death toll was being put at 351, but the Foreign Minister Nyan Win later went on television to announce the figure of at least 10,000.

With information still coming in, he warned the toll could yet rise.

The towns of Bogalay and Laputta, in the region of Irrawaddy, are among those locations particularly badly hit, state media have reported.

The United States, which has imposed sanctions on the junta, said it had provided $US250,000 in immediate assistance and a disaster response team was on standby.

India's government announced two naval ships loaded with food, tents, blankets, clothing and medicines would sail for Myanmar soon.

Yangon

In the former capital Yangon, food and fuel prices soared, and clean water was scarce.

Most shops had sold out of candles and batteries and there was no word when power would be restored.

Long queues formed at the few open petrol stations. The price of a gallon of petrol has doubled on the black market, while egg prices have tripled since Saturday.

In Yangon, many roofs were ripped off even sturdy buildings, suggesting damage would be severe in the shanty towns that lie on the outskirts of the city of 5 million people.

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