Myanmar cyclone deaths top 15,000; many missing

[Agaliha]

YANGON (Reuters) - The cyclone and storm surge that tore through Myanmar's Irrawaddy delta killed at least 15,000 people and left 30,000 missing, officials said on Tuesday, warning the toll could rise in low-lying, remote villages.

Reflecting the scale of the disaster, the ruling military junta said it would postpone to May 24 a constitutional referendum in the worst-hit areas of Yangon and the sprawling Irrawaddy delta.

However, state TV said the May 10 vote on a charter, part of the army's much-criticized "roadmap to democracy," would proceed as planned in the rest of the Southeast Asian country where security forces violently cracked down on protests last year.

Giving the first detailed account of the worst cyclone to hit Asia since 1991, when 143,000 people died in Bangladesh, Foreign Minister Nyan Win said on state television 10,000 people had died just in Bogalay, a town 90 km (50 miles) southwest of Yangon.

After a meeting with Myanmar's ambassador to Bangkok, Thai Foreign Minister Noppadol Pattama said he had been told 30,000 people were missing after Saturday's devastating storm

For the rest: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080506/wl_nm/myanmar_cyclone_dcThat a lot of people :foh:

[GEBS]

The local news this morning said 22,000 deaths with 41,000 missing.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5greyFH3qkj9mc9oagSoulgjN4KHgD90G4JBO0

A news broadcast on government-run radio said Tuesday that 22,464 people have now been confirmed dead and thousands more are missing.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/07/world/asia/07myanmar.html?ref=world

At a news conference in Yangon, the minister for relief and resettlement, Maung Maung Swe, said 41,000 people were still missing in the aftermath of the cyclone, which triggered a surge of water inland from the sea.


:(

[Cassie]

The totals keep rising. A BBC report said that this is likely to be the most costly disaster in terms of lives lost since the Tsunami. :(

[mephistopheles]

The most amusing part of this (yes, I feel bad saying "amusing" in correlation to this, but its true...) was that Mrs Bush (can't remember her first name...) was on the news last night criticizing the government of Myanmar for not letting people come help earlier. Maybe they learned their lesson with Katrina?

Thats a lot of people losing lives :(