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LEAD: 30,000 still missing in wake of Myanmar cyclone, Thai minister says+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) BANGKOK, May 6_(Kyodo) _ (EDS: UPDATING) As many as 30,000 people are still missing in the wake of the massive tropical cyclone that hit Myanmar last weekend, Thai Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama said Tuesday. Noppadon said the number of people still unaccounted for was revealed to him at a ceremony in which Noppadon handed a $100,000 relief donation to Myanmar Ambassador to Thailand Ye Win. In Yangon, Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win told diplomats during a briefing Monday the casualties in the Ayeyawaddy region could be as high as 10,000 people and some 100,000 people have been made homeless because of the cyclone, according to a Thai foreign ministry official. Casualties in Yangon alone were 59, according to the Myanmar ambassador. One third of the Yangon area began to have power resumption Tuesday although not around the clock as most of the utility poles were knocked down by the powerful cyclone last Friday and Saturday. Outside Yangon, the military government deployed soldiers to deliver food and oil for power generation, the Thai official said, citing the latest update from Myanmar. Other reports say more than 15,000 people were killed in the Yangon and Ayeyawaddy regions in the violent Cyclone Nargis that swept through five regions and states last Friday and Saturday. China's Xinhua News Agency, quoting official sources in Myanmar on Monday, said the sources estimated the casualties in the Ayeyawaddy region's Bogalay area alone will exceed 10,000 and at least 1,000 more in the Laputta area of the same region. Myanmar's ruling generals have called for international aid in the wake of the storm. A U.N. World Food Program spokesman said Tuesday in Bangkok the food agency will begin transporting 900 tons of food kept in its warehouse in Yangon to hundreds thousands of people in regions affected by the cyclone. Paul Risley, Asia spokesman for the WFP, said some villages in the Ayeyawaddy delta had been 90 percent destroyed and many hundreds thousands of people, "if not a million," are living without shelter. Risley said he believes the disaster is the worst in Southeast Asia since the December 2004 tsunami that killed more than 225,000 people in Indian Ocean coastal regions. In addition to food and medical supplies, humanitarian agencies will send boats and helicopters to the affected areas, Risley said. Thailand also dispatched Tuesday a military cargo plane carrying 9 tons of food, drinking water, medicine, medical supplies and plastic sheets to victims in Yangon. The Thai government said it would also send construction materials as requested by the military government in Myanmar. In Singapore, ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan expressed sympathy for Myanmar and appealed to ASEAN members to render assistance to the military-ruled country based on the group's agreement on disaster management and emergency response. "We are now appealing to all ASEAN governments, the private sector and civil society in the ASEAN region to please respond positively based on that agreement," he said. ASEAN is also working closely with U.N. agencies to assess the damage in Myanmar and the humanitarian assistance required. Surin also urged the international community, including ASEAN's dialogue partners, to come forward to help Myanmar, mentioning in particular that Japan has been working very closely with ASEAN on food and energy security and preparation for such disasters. Surin blamed the severe impact of the cyclone in Myanmar on rising population, which has resulted in invasion of lowlands and encroachment into mangrove swamps that could have provided a buffer against such storms. In a separate development, the junta decided Tuesday a constitutional referendum set for May 10 would take place as scheduled in most parts of the country. But in parts of Yangon and the Ayeyawaddy regions that have been devastated by the tropical cyclone that hit last week it will be put off until May 24, according to state-run radio. Copyright ? 2008 Kyodo News International, Inc. |