Floods, mudslides kill over 200 in Myanmar

Floods, mudslides kill over 200 in Myanmar

The number of people in Myanmar who have died in the wake of Typhoon Yagi rose to more than 220, with nearly 80 others still missing, the military government said.

The storm swept through northern Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar last week, killing more than 500 people across the region, according to official figures.

It triggered severe floods and mudslides in Myanmar, leaving at least 226 dead as whole villages were wrecked.

With hundreds of thousands of acres of crops destroyed, the UN also warned that more than half a million people in the war-torn country are in urgent need of food as well as drinking water, shelter and clothes.

The UN said the storm’s devastation spanned nine states and regions, including the the country’s capital Naypyidaw in the interior, as well as Mandalay to the north, Magway to the west, and Bago to the south – regions that lie along the Irrawady, Myanmar’s largest river.

Also hit were Shan State in the north-east and Mon, Kayah and Kayin states, which lie to its south.

A civil war has engulfed the country since early 2021, when the army sized power after ousting the democratically-elected government.

Since then thousands have been killed and millions forced from their homes as various armed resistance groups battle the ruling military junta.

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In the last year or so, the army has lost control of large parts of the country, creating an unstable patchwork of governance.

That, coupled with poor communication in remote areas, has meant information about casualties has been slow to emerge.