Myanmar’s military government has a provisional death toll of 10,000 from this weekend’s devastating cyclone, with another 3,000 missing, a diplomat said on Monday after a briefing from Foreign Minister Nyan Win.
Another diplomat present at the meeting in Bangkok told:
The basic message was that they believe the provisional death toll was about 10,000 with 3,000 missing.
Cyclone in Myanmar has brought back the memory of Tsunami that struck in 2004. Initially it was reported that a few hundred people have died but as the time passed by the death toll gradually rose to more than 250,000.
The Myanmar Junta believes that “hundreds of thousands” are without drinking water in the Irrawaddy Delta region. Cyclone Nargis is a humanitarian catastrophe far beyond the isolated and impoverished country’s capacity to respond.
Nevertheless, the Junta appears determined to press ahead with a controversial referendum scheduled for Saturday on a constitution which critics say will entrench military rule. Whether it is in fact possible to hold the vote remains to be seen.
During the meeting with diplomats, Nyan Win, the country’s Foreign Minister, took the highly unusual step of appealing for foreign aid. The government needs tents, medicine, water purification equipment and other emergency supplies, he said. The first such shipment is expected from tomorrow.
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