Myanmar tsunami toll at least 90 - U.N.

Reuters

YANGON, Dec 29 (Reuters) - At least 90 people were killed in Myanmar by a tsunami that wreaked death and destruction along the coasts of the Indian Ocean, a United Nations report said on Wednesday.

Officials said they had no update on the government death toll of 36, but the U.N. report issued in Yangon said officials acknowledged privately it was likely to be higher and that reliable sources said it was at least 90.

More than 68,000 people in nine nations were killed by Sunday's tsunami, which was triggered by an earthquake off Indonesia's nearby Sumatra island.

The report said the remote Co Co Islands, close to India's Andaman Islands where several thousand people are thought to have died, were believed to have been hit particularly hard but no precise casualty or damage reports were available.

"Numerous" fishing boats were also unaccounted for, it said.

The miltary government, which has said so far only that some parts of the Irrawaddy Delta were hit by Sunday's tsunami, had been offered assistance but had not taken up the offer.

"They told us that the situation was manageable and they would come back if they need any assistance," a U.N. official told Reuters

Now having been into that area before and taking into account the dramatic effects around the region, blind Freddy could interpret that a lot more people would have either perished or be in a great deal more trouble than the Junta is letting on or perhaps not even looking into. Once again they seem quite happy to regard their own people as unimportant and expendable. Unfortunately, when everyone has finally had a chance to put this tragedy behind them -in some shape of form- then this terrible aspect of this horrendous mishap will also, I fear, be resigned to history. And with all the personal horror abound, will largely be forgotten and certainly never investigated.

Nobody ever accused those guys of being too smart.

Too bad... the Burmese are really beautiful people..they deserve better.

cv

Look at the map where the earthquake epicenter is. Draw a straight line toward

Yangon.Now add the venturi effect to the tsunami.......Maybe the Junta didn't

attach three zeros to the death toll of 36....Such disregard for human life.

Look at the map where the earthquake epicenter is. Draw a straight line toward

Yangon.Now add the venturi effect to the tsunami.......Maybe the Junta didn't

attach three zeros to the death toll of 36....Such disregard for human life.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Numerology plays a big part in the junta's decisions. The real death toll probably isn't an auspicious number to them.

I just had an email from a Western ambassador stationed in Yangon, saying that in fact Burma has been little affected. Fishing communities in the southern Mergui archipelago and the delta were slightly affected. According to the IRC, who have offices in Burma and can travel at will, the death toll is currently about 100, and is not expected to be significantly more. The Burmese government, the red cross and various NGOs are surveying damage and mounting a relief effort, but reports suggest that there isn't a great deal of damage except for a few exposed fishing communities in the delta and the south.

The main tourist resorts - such as they are (Chaungtha, Ngapali) - report just high tides and choppy water. The Mergui coastline is so underdeveloped that it hasn't suffered like Aceh, Sri Lanka or Khao Lak even where it has been hit.