Burma – THE death toll in cyclone-ravaged Burma could hit 500,000 – more than TWICE the total killed by the Boxing Day Tsunami.
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Sources said 200,000 people were already dead or dying.
But the figure could rise to HALF A MILLION through disease and hunger if the nation’s hardline army rulers continue to block aid for the devastated lowlands of the Irrawaddy Delta.
That would dwarf the 230,000 deaths across South East Asia in the 2004 catastrophe.
A spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Aid said: “The entire lower delta region is under water.
Teams are talking about bodies floating around. This is a major, major disaster.”
Myanmar’s junta seized U.N. aid shipments headed for hungry and homeless survivors prompting the world body to suspend further help on Friday.
The U.N. said the aid included 38 tons of high-energy biscuits and arrived in Myanmar on Friday on two flights from Bangladesh and the United Arab Emirates.
“All of the food aid and equipment that we managed to get in has been confiscated,” U.N. World Food Program spokesman Paul Risley said. “For the time being, we have no choice but to end further efforts to bring critical needed food aid into Myanmar at this time.”
Myanmar’s government acknowledged taking control of the shipments and said it plans to distribute the aid itself to the affected areas.
god help these poor people. it is known that a group of people in burma claim to be from the lost tribes.
I’m surprised that the UN doesn’t elect Burma as head of the UN’s Human Rights Agency