NEW DELHI — The government of Myanmar said today that the death toll from a weekend cyclone would surpass 10,000, with potentially hundreds of thousands of people left homeless.
The new toll marked a sharp escalation from the previous official tally of 351.
In a broadcast monitored by news agencies, Foreign Minister Nyan Win said about 10,000 people died in Bogalay township, but gave no specific number. He said more than 4,000 died in other areas. Those numbers were not immediately confirmed by international agencies.
Myanmar's government briefed United Nations agencies on the scale of the disaster Monday, said Stephanie Bunker, the spokeswoman for the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The cyclone's destruction has caused the isolated Southeast Asian nation to reluctantly accept international aid and foreign humanitarian workers to help provide food, water and shelter across the countryside, despite its military government's deep suspicion of outsiders.
But the regime that has long ruled Myanmar insisted that a controversial referendum on a draft constitution will be held Saturday, as scheduled, despite the disaster.
First Lady Laura Bush, in a rare White House question-and-answer session, chastised Myanmar's leaders for plans to proceed, saying the vote would give "false legitimacy to their continued rule." Myanmar's leaders are deeply superstitious and had determined that, astrologically speaking, May 10 is the most favorable date.
The White House announced that the U.S. Embassy in Myanmar had made $250,000 in emergency funds available immediately for relief efforts, but officials weren't certain that the government would accept the offer. The aid probably would be channeled through U.N. agencies, and not delivered directly to the Myanmar government, because of U.S. sanctions on the regime.
The updated death toll would make Tropical Cyclone Nargis the worst natural disaster in Southeast Asia since the 2004 tsunami, which claimed more than 220,000 lives. Hurricane Katrina, in comparison, resulted in 1,836 deaths.
The storm struck Myanmar, also known as Burma, on Saturday with winds of up to 120 mph. Particularly hard hit was the fertile, low-lying Irrawaddy River delta, which empties into the Andaman Sea. Images on Myanmar TV showed entire villages underwater or swept away. Fallen trees blocked roads, preventing relief from getting through.
