8th May 2008, 12:37
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#6 (permalink)
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First Team Sub
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 6,537
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US aid flight to Burma not going ahead
Quote:
A planned US aid flight to Burma is not going ahead, the US ambassador to Thailand has said.
The US embassy had said earlier that the junta had agreed to accept US emergency aid after last weekend's devastating cyclone, allowing at least one US plane to deliver supplies.
It is unclear whether there was a mix-up in communication or whether the military junta withdrew permission.
Cyclone Nargis pounded the country's low-lying south on Saturday, killing nearly 23,000 people by the regime's official count.
Witnesses reported villages destroyed and people fighting for survival by clutching trees.
The US has urged Burma's military rulers to accept international disaster relief after the top US diplomat in Rangoon warned that more than 100,000 people may have died when the cyclone pounded the country.
Limited international aid has trickled in and the military regime's own aid operation has moved up a gear with some helicopter drops, but land convoys have not been seen.
State radio and television in Burma reported a death toll of 22,980 with 42,119 missing and 1,383 injured in the world's most devastating cyclone since 1991.
Officials at the US embassy in Burma, which is also known as Myanmar, said there may be well over 100,000 deaths in the delta region.
That figure has not been confirmed, but is based on estimates by an international non-governmental organisation.
In one town alone, Bogalay, at least 10,000 people were killed, according to a town-by-town list of casualties and damage announced by the military government.
Thailand, China, India and Indonesia were flying in relief supplies and the UN World Food Programme said it had sent four planes with aid that were expected to arrive today.
The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has also urged Burma do more to facilitate international aid.
24 countries have pledged €19m and more aid offers were expected after the UN sets out its priorities and target for aid in a flash appeal on Friday. The UN emergency relief will contribute at least €6m.
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