Burma Says 78,000 Dead, 56,000 Missing After Cyclone Nargis
By VOA News
16 May 2008
Burma's state media say the death toll from cyclone Nargis has reached almost 78,000 and that another 56,000 people are missing.
The previous official death toll was 43,000.
State television announced the huge increase Friday, two weeks after the disaster. Diplomats and independent experts said earlier the numbers could go higher.
Humanitarian officials have warned that widespread hunger and disease could push the numbers even higher.
Burma's military-ruled government has rejected the help of most foreign aid workers and has been slow to allow international relief supplies into the country.
The international Red Cross said today that 20 - 30 percent of survivors have received aid. It also warned that a lack of clean water could become the biggest killer in Burma's post-disaster environment.
Nargis has affected an estimated two-and-a-half million people and the United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF, says up to 40 percent of the storm's victims are children.
UNICEF said that as many as one million Burmese children may be at risk of physical and emotional illness following the storm.
A spokeswoman Friday said that in addition to a lack of food and, especially, clean water, the destruction of homes, schools and sanitation systems remains a threat to surviving children.
Also today, diplomatic sources in Burma said the country's Foreign Ministry will take a group of foreign diplomats on a tour of the cyclone-hit area on Saturday.
The United Nations' top official for humanitarian affairs, John Holmes, is trying to travel to Burma's Irrawaddy delta, but has yet to receive a travel visa. The U.S. military says it is prepared to send troops with disaster relief experience to Burma, if Burma permits the help.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
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