Typhoon Yagi: Death toll in Myanmar reaches 74; dozens missing
Sept. 14, 2024, 7:48 p.m.
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The number of people who died in Myanmar from flooding and landslides caused by Typhoon Yagi has reached at least 74, with 89 people still unaccounted for, Myanmar's state television reported on Saturday.
Challenges in gathering information have led to concerns that the actual number of casualties may be even higher.
The new official death toll released by the country's military government was more than twice the 33 deaths reported on Friday. Typhoon Yagi previously affected Vietnam, northern Thailand and Laos, claiming the lives of over 260 people and causing significant damage.
Advertisement The new figures were announced after state media reported that Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the head of the ruling military council, said that Myanmar was requesting relief aid from international partners.
In Myanmar, low-lying areas in the central regions of Mandalay and Bago, along with eastern Shan state and the country's capital, Naypyitaw, have been submerged in water since Wednesday.
Min Aung Hlaing and other military officials inspected flooded areas and reviewed rescue, relief, and rehabilitation efforts in Naypyitaw on Friday, the state-run Myanma Alinn newspaper reported. Its report said that he instructed officials to contact foreign countries, as other countries affected by the storm have done, to receive rescue and relief aid for the victims.
“It is essential to manage rescue, relief, and rehabilitation measures as quickly as possible,” he was quoted as saying.
The exact extent of the damage remained unclear, but there were concerns that the death toll could rise sharply. Local news outlets reported more than 100 people missing.
Efforts to count the number of casualties and assess the extent of damage, as well as provide aid, are complicated. Myanmar is facing a civil war that began in 2021, after the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. Independent analysts believe the military controls significantly less than half of the country's territory.
Advertisement Myanmar experiences extreme weather conditions nearly every year during the monsoon season. In 2008, Cyclone Nargis killed over 138,000 people. In that instance, the military government then in power delayed accepting international assistance, and when it eventually relented, it tightly controlled its distribution, with little or no oversight by aid donors.
The state television news on Saturday night reported that flooding in the central and eastern parts of the country caused damage to 24 bridges, 375 school buildings, one Buddhist monastery, five dams, four pagodas, 14 electrical transformers, 456 lampposts, and more than 65,000 homes.
Naypyitaw was one of the areas hardest hit by the floods. Myanmar's Eleven Media group reported on Friday that record rainfall had caused damage to several pagodas in Bagan, the country's ancient capital and a UNESCO World Heritage site. The rainfall, said to be the heaviest in 60 years, resulted in the collapse of walls at several centuries-old temples, according to the report.
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