Myanmar cyclone survivors 'dying' says agency
source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080507/ts_afp/myanmarweathercyclone_080507121738
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- JanforGore
- added this
LABUTTA, Myanmar (AFP) - Thousands of shell-shocked survivors of the Myanmar cyclone emerged Wednesday, desperate for food and water after trekking for days through flood waters littered with the bodies of the dead.
An AFP reporter who reached the remote southern delta hardest hit by the storm, which left more than 60,000 dead or missing, said there was virtually no food or fresh water in this ruined town blanketed by the stench of death.
The grim accounts of survivors came as the United Nations said the country's reclusive military rulers, under pressure to let in foreign aid workers , had approved an emergency flight five days after the tragedy.
"They have lost their families, they have nowhere to stay and they have nothing to eat," one witness said in the town of Labutta after Cyclone Nargis washed away entire villages in one of the world's poorest nations.
Another said: "We can't sleep at night, because we can hear people shouting at night. Maybe these are the ghosts of the villagers."
Those who had the strength to do so spent days picking through murky water strewn with the festering and bloated dead, desperate for shelter, food, water and medical care after one of the world's worst natural disasters.
Witnesses said Saturday's storm, packing winds of 190 kilometres (120 miles) per hour, had left the region submerged under six-metre (20-foot) waters higher than the tree-tops -- and countless corpses rotting in the tropical heat.
After days of criticism aimed at the secretive generals who have ruled the former Burma for nearly half a century -- and who have hesitated to let in foreign relief workers -- the United Nations said experts were on the way.
more at the link
An AFP reporter who reached the remote southern delta hardest hit by the storm, which left more than 60,000 dead or missing, said there was virtually no food or fresh water in this ruined town blanketed by the stench of death.
The grim accounts of survivors came as the United Nations said the country's reclusive military rulers, under pressure to let in foreign aid workers , had approved an emergency flight five days after the tragedy.
"They have lost their families, they have nowhere to stay and they have nothing to eat," one witness said in the town of Labutta after Cyclone Nargis washed away entire villages in one of the world's poorest nations.
Another said: "We can't sleep at night, because we can hear people shouting at night. Maybe these are the ghosts of the villagers."
Those who had the strength to do so spent days picking through murky water strewn with the festering and bloated dead, desperate for shelter, food, water and medical care after one of the world's worst natural disasters.
Witnesses said Saturday's storm, packing winds of 190 kilometres (120 miles) per hour, had left the region submerged under six-metre (20-foot) waters higher than the tree-tops -- and countless corpses rotting in the tropical heat.
After days of criticism aimed at the secretive generals who have ruled the former Burma for nearly half a century -- and who have hesitated to let in foreign relief workers -- the United Nations said experts were on the way.
more at the link
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JanforGore
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U.S. Campaign For Burma
Another organization helping the people of Burma.
- 3 years ago
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JanforGore
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JanforGore
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What this regime in Myanmar is doing is a crime against humanity.
- 3 years ago
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JanforGore
