More than 15Â 000 people died when a powerful cyclone swept across Burma last weekend, including 10Â 000 in a single town, the military government announced on Tuesday in state media.
The official New Light of Burma newspaper said the devastated town of Bogalay, in the heart of the Irrawaddy River Delta where the storm swept ashore overnight on Friday, had suffered most of the losses.
The cyclone pounded the delta and then tore through Burma’s main city of Rangoon. The latest toll marked a 50% jump from the estimate given on state television late on Monday by Foreign Minister Nyan Win.
Thirty thousand people are missing after the devastating cyclone, in addition to the death toll of 15Â 000, Thai Foreign Minister Noppadol Pattama said after a meeting with Burma’s ambassador to Bangkok.
The storm devastated Burma’s main rice-growing region, which is home to about 24-million people, or nearly half the country’s population.
The destruction prompted the military leadership to make a rare appeal for foreign aid, which the regime normally screens closely.
As aid agencies dispatched teams to find ways of delivering clean water, food and other supplies, United States First Lady Laura Bush accused the regime of not doing enough to warn its people about the storm.
”Although they were aware of the threat, Burma’s state-run media failed to issue a timely warning to citizens in the storm’s path,” she said at the White House.
”The response to the cyclone is just the most recent example of the junta’s failure to meet its people’s basic needs,” she said.
The US has pushed hard for international sanctions against Burma, which is perhaps best known worldwide for keeping democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi in detention for much of the past two decades.
The United Nations and governments around the globe pledged millions of dollars in assistance as the death toll climbed and Foreign Minister Nyan Win called for foreign assistance.
”We will welcome help,” the minister said. ”Our people are in difficulty.”
Hundreds of thousands of people were believed to be homeless in south-western Burma, including in the main city and former capital, Rangoon.
Thousands more are believed missing in other parts of the Irrawaddy River Delta, which bore the brunt of the storm.
Packing winds of 190 km/h, Cyclone Nargis ripped through the countryside, destroying entire villages, downing power lines and uprooting trees that blocked key roads in an area where transport is already difficult.
Precarious food supply
The disaster looked set to put even more pressure on the precarious food supply in the region, with the damage to Burma’s rice-producing regions not yet known. Burma notably has a deal to export rice to Sri Lanka.
That rice deal is one of the few dependable sources of income for a nation that has spurned most of the outside world since the military grabbed power in 1962 — and has ruled with an iron fist ever since.
The junta had been due to hold a national referendum this coming weekend on a new constitution, which is supposed to be a crucial step in restoring democracy, but which critics say will enshrine army rule.
The regime scheduled a press conference for Tuesday, and it was not immediately known if the referendum would go ahead.
But the international community was gearing up for a massive relief effort, as aid agencies warned that the first several days after the tragedy were crucial in making the difference for many between life and death.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the UN would ”do whatever [necessary] to provide urgent humanitarian assistance” to the country, which is one of the poorest on the planet.
A UN relief official said the ruling generals had ”shown their disposition” to accept aid but there were few immediate details on what might be sent in — or how soon it could reach those in most need.
The European Union released $3-million in initial emergency aid. The United States offered an initial $250Â 000 through its embassy in Rangoon. — AFP, Reuters