Cyclone Mocha’s passage through Myanmar (formerly Burma) killed at least 60 people on Sunday, regional authorities and media, backed by the ruling military junta, said.
With winds of up to 195 kilometers per hour, the “Mocha” passed between Sittwe, the capital of the Burmese state of Rakhine, and Cox’s Bazar, in neighboring Bangladesh, where there are camps for the Rohingya Muslim minority, who have been fighting the violence of the Myanmar army.
Güney Asya ülkesi Myanmar”has a sonundan bu yana etkili olan Mocha Kasırgası”en bilanço artıyor, can kaybı 60″a yükseldi. pic.twitter.com/TAtBewVd42
– Sabah (@sabah) May 16, 2023
Twenty-four people died in Khaung Doke Kar and 17 in Bu Ma, near Sittwe, local authorities and residents told the French news agency AFP.
‘There will be more deaths because more than 100 people are missing’warned Karlo, a leader of Bu Ma.
Thirteen people died when a monastery collapsed in Rathedaung township, north of Sittwe, and a woman died in a neighboring township, state broadcaster MRTV reported Tuesday.
The latest count by the military junta, released on Monday, was five dead and an undetermined number wounded, according to AFP.
Mocha, considered the region’s worst storm in more than a decade, also devastated villages and camps of displaced Rohingya in Rakhine state.
Güney Asya ülkesi Myanmar”has a sonundan bu yana etkili olan Mocha Kasırgası”en bilanço artıyor, can kaybı 60″a yükseldi. pic.twitter.com/TAtBewVd42
– Sabah (@sabah) May 16, 2023
Communications were slowly restored today in Sittwe, home to about 150,000 people, as roads were cleared and the internet restored, AFP journalists reported.
China said it was “ready to provide emergency assistance in the event of a disaster,” according to a statement published by the Chinese embassy in Myanmar on the social network Facebook.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said it was trying to confirm information about casualties in Rohingya camps “to get a clearer picture of the situation”.
Although they have lived in Myanmar for generations, most Rohingya have no access to citizenship, healthcare or education in the Buddhist-majority country.
The Southeast Asian country has been ruled by the military since the February 1, 2021 coup that overthrew the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize.
In Bangladesh, damage to Rohingya refugee camps, where about a million people live in 190,000 bamboo and canvas shelters, was minimal, officials said.
However, in an urgent appeal, the UN said that “thousands of people urgently need help”.
Photos published by Burmese state media showed aid destined for Rakhine state being loaded onto a ship in Rangoon, but the Rohingya said they had not yet received it.
“No government, no organization has come to our village,” Kyaw Swar Win, 38, a resident of Bu Ma, told AFP.
“We didn’t eat for two days (…), we didn’t receive anything and nobody came to check on us”he added.
According to ClimateAnalytics, the increase in temperature due to climate change may have contributed to the intensity of the “mocha.”
“Warmer oceans allow storms to build up quickly, with devastating consequences for people,” Peter Pfleiderer, a member of the organization, told AFP.
In 2008, Cyclone “Nargis” devastated Myanmar’s Irrawaddy Delta, killing 138,000 people.
Source: DN
