Cyclone death tolls 15,000

At least 15,000 people were killed in the Myanmar cyclone and the toll was likely to rise
By Aung Hla Tun
Reuters News Service

YANGON (Reuters) - At least 15,000 people were killed in the Myanmar cyclone and the toll was likely to rise as officials made contact with the worst-hit areas, the military government's foreign minister said on Tuesday.

Foreign Minister Nyan Win said on state television that 10,000 people had died in just one town, Bogalay, as he gave the first detailed account of what is emerging as the worst cyclone to hit Asia since 1991, when 143,000 people were killed in Bangladesh.

"In Irrawaddy Division the death toll amounts to more than 10,000," he said in a state television broadcast, in which he also said the military government welcomed outside assistance, an unprecedented green light to governments and aid agencies who want to help with the recovery.

"The missing is about 3,000. In Bogalay, the death toll is about 10,000," the minister said in the broadcast monitored outside of the Southeast Asian country.

See: Cyclone kills 10,000 in just one Myanmar town