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YANGON: More than 15,000 people died after a powerful cyclone swept across Myanmar last weekend, including 10,000 in a single town, the military government announced Tuesday in state media.
The official New Light of Myanmar newspaper said the devastated town of Bogalay, in the heart of the Irrawaddy river delta where the storm swept ashore overnight Friday, had suffered most of the losses.
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The cyclone pounded the delta and then tore through Myanmar's main city of Yangon. The latest toll marked a 50 percent jump from the estimate given on state television late Monday by Foreign Minister Nyan Win.
The storm devastated Myanmar's main rice-growing region, which is home to about 24 million people, or nearly half the country's population.
The destruction prompted the military leadership to make a rare appeal for foreign aid, which the regime normally screens closely.
As aid agencies dispatched teams to find ways of delivering clean water, food and other supplies, US First Lady Laura Bush accused the regime of not doing enough to warn its people about the storm.
"Although they were aware of the threat, Burma's state-run media failed to issue a timely warning to citizens in the storm's path," she said at the White House, using the country's former name.
"The response to the cyclone is just the most recent example of the junta's failure to meet its people's basic needs," she said.
The United States has pushed hard for international sanctions against Myanmar, which is perhaps best known worldwide for keeping democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi in detention for much of the past two decades.
The United Nations and governments around the globe pledged millions of dollars in assistance as the death toll climbed and Foreign Minister Nyan Win called for foreign assistance.
"We will welcome help," the minister said. "Our people are in difficulty."
Hundreds of thousands of people were believed to be homeless in southwestern Myanmar, including in the main city and former capital Yangon.
Thousands more are believed missing in other parts of the Irrawaddy river delta, which bore the brunt of the storm.
Packing winds of 190 kilometres (120 miles) per hour, Nargis ripped through the countryside, destroying entire villages, downing power lines and uprooting trees that blocked key roads in an area where transport is already difficult.
The disaster looked set to put even more pressure on the precarious food supply in the region, with the damage to Myanmar's rice-producing regions not yet known. Myanmar notably has a deal to export rice to Sri Lanka.
That rice deal is one of the few dependable sources of income for a nation which has spurned most of the outside world since the military grabbed power in 1962 -- and has ruled with an iron fist ever since.
The junta had been due to hold a national referendum this coming weekend on a new constitution which is supposed to be a crucial step in restoring democracy, but which critics say will enshrine army rule.
The regime scheduled a press conference for Tuesday, and it was not immediately known if the referendum would go ahead.
But the international community was gearing up for a massive relief effort, as aid agencies warned that the first several days after the tragedy were crucial in making the difference for many between life and death.
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the United Nations would "do whatever (necessary) to provide urgent humanitarian assistance" to the country, which is one of the poorest on the planet.
A UN relief official said the ruling generals had "shown their disposition" to accept aid but there were few immediate details on what might be sent in -- or how soon it could reach those in most need.
The European Union released three million dollars in initial emergency aid. The United States offered an initial 250,000 dollars through its embassy in Yangon. - AFP/ac
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