May 7 (Bloomberg) -- Myanmar said as many as 60,000 people may have died in last weekend's cyclone as United Nations agencies called on the military government to allow international workers to start relief operations.
State television reported that 22,000 people died and more than 40,000 are missing after the southern Irrawaddy delta that feeds into the Andaman Sea was swamped by a surge of water as high as 12 feet (3.5 meters), the UN's IRIN news agency said.
``We are in close contact with the government on the response,'' said Chris Kaye of the World Food Program. ``Much more cooperation will be required.'' The WFP is distributing the 800 metric tons of food stocks it holds in Yangon, the former capital, Kaye said in an e-mail from Thailand.
More than 1 million people may be homeless after Tropical Cyclone Nargis hit the country, causing the worst natural disaster in Southeast Asia since a tsunami in 2004 killed more than 220,000 people across the Indian Ocean. Aid officials are waiting for the military to approve visas and allow them in to distribute supplies sent by countries including India and Thailand, the UN said.
Outside Influences
The military rulers are ``suspicious of outsiders and very sensitive to foreign influences,'' Maureen Aung-Thwin, director of the Burma Project, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television today. ``They admitted to 22,000'' people killed, she said. ``I believe the figure is higher than that. Somebody said 150,000 and I don't think that's untrue.''
The organization, set up the Open Society Institute, a New York-based pro-democracy body founded by billionaire investor George Soros, says it aims to raise international awareness of conditions in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.
The country of 47.8 million people is regularly hit by cyclones that form in the Bay of Bengal between April and November. It has been under international sanctions since the military rejected the results of elections in 1990.
Such measures have restricted economic growth in Myanmar, which had proven gas reserves of 17.7 trillion cubic feet at the end of 2005, or 0.3 percent of the world's total, according to BP Plc, and resources including teak, zinc, copper and precious stones. Almost 33 percent of people live below the poverty line, according to U.S. government data.
Transparency International last year ranked Myanmar as the most corrupt nation in the world along with Somalia.
State of Emergency
Myanmar's government declared a state of emergency in five low-lying provinces, mostly in the rice-growing Irrawaddy delta, the UN said. The storm followed ``the worst track possible'' for the people of the region, forecaster AccuWeather.com said.
``As the storm moved eastward toward the delta, southerly winds over 100 miles per hour shoved a massive amount of water across the flatlands, which are barely above sea level,'' the U.S.-based service said. ``There was simply nowhere to flee from the fast onrush of the ocean.''
The worst-hit areas are becoming accessible for the first time and the death toll is ``increasing rapidly,'' Richard Horsey, a spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in an interview with Bloomberg Television from Bangkok today.
``We are struggling to get essential clean water and health provisions out to prevent a second wave, if you like, of disaster,'' he said. ``It may be the case that the current death toll is not the final death toll, unfortunately.''
Visas Approved
Some workers have had visas approved to enter the country and ``others are in the pipeline,'' John Sparrow, a spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross, said in Malaysia's capital, Kuala Lumpur, today.
Damage to the main rice-growing region is ``extremely worrying,'' he said. ``There is a concern that there may be hoarding of food. There certainly are reports of some food items running out.''
Myanmar ``needs the cooperation of people and well-wishers from at home and abroad,'' IRIN cited Information Minister Brigadier General Kyaw Hsan as saying at a news conference yesterday. The junta is ``doing its best'' to help victims.
The U.S., which leads international calls for the military to restore democracy to Myanmar, boosted its offer of aid yesterday to $3.25 million from $250,000 and said it is making available naval assets, which played a key role during relief efforts after the Indian Ocean tsunami.
``Let the United States come help you help the people,'' President George W. Bush said yesterday as he signed legislation lauding Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize winner who is under house arrest.
Aid Offered
Countries offering aid include Canada, New Zealand, Finland, Norway, China and the European Union. Australia pledged $2.8 million toward providing clean water and shelters, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said today.
Myanmar, ruled by the military since 1962, is scheduled to hold a referendum on May 10 for a new constitution before elections in 2010. The government said the vote will go ahead, except in the worst-affected areas where it will be delayed until May 24.
``Whether it is held on the 10th of May or the 24th of May or next year, is neither here nor there,'' Smith told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio. ``It is a completely fundamentally flawed process just aimed to bolster the regime.''
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