Global Courant 2023-05-19 14:15:00
YANGON – The death toll from Myanmar’s Cyclone Mocha has reached 145, the junta said on Friday, with most of the dead belonging to the persecuted Rohingya minority.
Mokka brought torrential rain and 120 mph winds to Myanmar and neighboring Bangladesh on Sunday, causing buildings to collapse and streets to turn into rivers.
The storm devastated villages, uprooted trees and disrupted communications across much of Myanmar’s Rakhine state.
The region is home to hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees living in displaced persons camps after decades of ethnic conflict.
“A total of 145 local people died during the cyclone,” a statement from Myanmar’s junta authorities said.
The number included four soldiers, 24 local residents and 117 “Bengali,” it added, using a pejorative term for the Rohingya.
Widely regarded as invaders from Bangladesh, Rohingya are denied citizenship and access to healthcare in Myanmar and require permission to travel outside their townships.
A Rohingya village leader previously told AFP that more than 100 people were reported missing in his village alone after the storm.
Another leader near Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine state, told AFP that at least 105 Rohingya had died in the city, while the count is still ongoing.
Flights resumed
Media reports that 400 Rohingya had been killed were “not true,” the junta’s statement said, adding that action would be taken against the outlets publishing the figure.
The junta has arrested dozens of journalists and shut down media outlets critical of its rule since the military staged a coup more than two years ago that overthrew an elected government.
Junta-backed media reported on Friday that naval vessels and the air force had brought in thousands of sacks of rice, while thousands of electricians, firefighters and rescue workers had been deployed across Rakhine State.
Normal flight service had resumed at Sittwe airport on Thursday, according to the Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper.
Several international aid agencies, including the United Nations World Food Programme, were at work in Sittwe this week.
