State radio said the number of dead in Irrawaddy River delta from Saturday’s Cyclone Nargis had reached 3,939, and that almost 3,000 people in a single town there were unaccounted for.

Foreign diplomats said Foreign Minister Nyan Win acknowledged the possibility of 10,000 dead at a briefing given to them and representatives of UN and international aid agencies.

At the meeting, Myanmar officials appealed for international aid, including urgently needed roofing materials, plastic sheets and temporary tents, medicine, water purifying tablets, blankets and mosquito nets.

The storm left thousands homeless and without clean drinking water, said Richard Horsey, a Thailand-based spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Yangon was without electricity.
The situation in the countryside remained unclear because of poor means of communications.


B’desh Alert

May strike again
Dhaka, IANS: A day after Cyclone Nargis spared Bangladesh the meteorological office on Monday warned that one more cyclonic storm was developing over the Bay of Bengal.

“At least one cyclonic storm may develop from the depressions in the Bay of Bengal this month,” official news agency BSS said, quoting the met office making its long-range forecast for May.