Yangon, Myanmar (AHN) - The annihilation peal from cyclone Nargis that struck Myanmar over the weekend has risen to more than 15,000, including 10,000 killed in Ayeyawaddy division’s Bogalay town. The Chinese state-run intelligence activity Xinhua quoted superintendence officials as saying that 1,000 also died in Laputta town in Ayeyawaddy, and the other deaths are from the ancient capital Yangon. Nearly 2,500 people are missing from the two divisions while 20,000 homes were destroyed in Ayeyawaddy’s Haing Kyi archipelago that left nearly 93,000 people without shelter.

Also hit by the 150-mile-per-hour winds were Bago, Kayin and Mon divisions but mishap figures for those areas were not available. Survivors in troubled areas have been without electricity and telephone service since Saturday as power lines were down. All flights to Yangon were cancelled. The 10-hour cyclone was the deadliest to hit the boondocks since 1926, when 2,700 kith and kin were killed by a wind storm. Meanwhile, the military government has appealed for or oecumenic assistance. The governments of the U.S. and Thailand as well as the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies have offered fiscal assistance.

myanmar,  burma, where is yangon

Burma, officially the Union of Myanmar (Burmese: , pronounced [pjìdàunzṵ mjəmà nàinŋàndɔ̀]), is the largest country by geographical area in mainland Southeast Asia.

The country achieved independence from the United Kingdom on 4 January 1948, as the “Union of Burma.” It became the “Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma” on 4 January 1974, before reverting to the “Union of Burma” on 23 September 1988. On 18 June 1989, the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) adopted the name “Union of Myanmar”. This controversial name change was not recognized by SPDC opposition groups and many English-speaking nations.

The country is bordered by China on the north, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, and India on the northwest, with the Bay of Bengal to the southwest. One-third of Burma’s total perimeter, 1,930 kilometres (1,199 mi), forms an uninterrupted coastline.

map of myanmar

Stumble it!