Myanmar: 84,500 confirmed dead, 54,000 still missing from cyclone
Pastor Dale Morgan
Myanmar: 84,500 confirmed dead, 54,000 still missing from cyclone*
The Associated Press
Tuesday, June 24, 2008; 12:58 AM
YANGON, Myanmar -- Myanmar's ruling junta has announced that 84,500
people perished in Cyclone Nargis in May, up from an earlier confirmed
toll of 77,700.
Deputy Foreign Minister Kyaw Thu told reporters Tuesday that the
official death toll stood at 84,537 and 53,836 still missing.
Cyclone Nargis on May 2-3 cut a swath of destruction through the
Irrawaddy river delta and in and around the country's largest city, Yangon.
A major international effort is under way to aid some 2.4 million
survivors of the natural disaster, the worst in Myanmar's modern history.
Tuesday's update was the first since May 17, when officials said 77,738
had died and 55,917 were missing.