Dozens dead, hundreds missing after heavy rains and landslides hit Burma

Dozens dead, hundreds missing after heavy rains and landslides hit Burma

2011-10-22 16:23:42 GMT+7 (ICT)

YANGON (BNO NEWS) -- At least 58 people have been killed and hundreds more are missing after flash floods hit central Burma this week, officials told a Burmese news organization in exile on Saturday.

The flooding happened on Thursday in the town of Pakkokku in the Magwe Division after torrential rains hit the region. A local official told Mizzima News that at least 58 people were killed while 320 others are still missing as a result of landslides and flood waters.

Four relief centers in local monasteries have opened to assist flood victims. According to residents, at least 500 houses from an illegal slum quarter located along the Shwechaung stream were swept away by the flood waters.

"There was a landslide along the bank of the stream, about 400 or 500 yards (365 to 457 meters) in length in some places. About 15 to 20 feet (4.5 to 6 meters) of soil eroded and the houses were swept away by the water. In total about 500 houses [were affected]," said one resident.

South East Asia has been hit by unusually heavy monsoon rains in the past months, killing hundreds of people in flood-related incidents and affecting thousands of villages. Burma is also known as Myanmar.

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