Narinjara News

UN Provides Aid to Cyclone Victims in Burma

VOA News

28 May 2004, 18:48 UTC

United Nations relief agencies in Burma are providing aid to victims of a cyclone that killed at least 140 people last week.

 The United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF, says the May 19 storm was the worst in more than 30 years. It devastated towns in the western state of Rakhine on the Bay of Bengal.

Burma's state-controlled media have not reported on the cyclone. But the government in Rangoon told U.N. officials that 18,000 people were left homeless by the storm.

UNICEF says Burma has requested $220,000 worth of rice, medicine, clothing and shelter materials for victims of the storm. High winds and flooding caused by the cyclone are said to have disrupted water and power supplies.

Dozens of ships in the Bay of Bengal were reported lost, but UNICEF says it has not been able to determine the number of casualties. Homes, schools, hospitals and health centers were damaged or destroyed in the western coastal region.