|
Myanmar’s military rulers have revealed late on Monday night that more than ten thousand people are feared dead after cyclone ‘Nargis’ hit the small nation on Saturday, May 3, 2008. Foreign Minister Nyan Win stated that ten thousand people have died in just one town, Bogalay. According to certain officials, the death toll is speculated to be nearing about fifteen thousand. The number of missing people is about three thousand, according to official sources.
Mr. Nyan Win in the first detailed account of those affected by cyclone ‘Nargis’ has also remarked that the military government is ready to accept outside assistance. After the military junta gave its people the nod to receive aid, the United Nations and neighboring countries including India have started delivering food, clean water and shelter aid to the survivors.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on Monday said that the international body is committed to providing whatever assistance Myanmar needs. If the death toll numbers which have been coming up since Monday hold to be true, then it would be the highest from a natural disaster in Asia since Tsunami in 2004. Cyclone Nargis swept Myanmar on Saturday and devastated the Irrawaddy delta and the country’s main city Yangon, formerly called Rangoon.
