Corpses dot Myanmar waterways
2008-05-09 14:27
Grant McCool
Bo Thin - Bloated corpses bobbing in canals or spreadeagled on riverbanks dot the Irrawaddy delta, the most sombre symbol of devastating Cyclone Nargis and the military government's struggle to respond.
"I have been looking for my wife and three daughters for six days," said farmer Tei Lin in Bo Thin, one of the hamlets struck last Saturday by a cyclone and huge waves in Myanmar's worst natural disaster.
He said he was far away from the family boathouse at the time and when he raced home, there was nothing and no one left.
Reuters witnesses saw seven corpses along a 5km stretch from the delta town of Labutta, which is 120km southwest of Myanmar's biggest city of Yangon.
Tei Lin said he has seen hundreds of bodies in the past week. "It's so difficult. Many of them are badly decomposed," he said through an interpreter.
In the tropical heat and humidity of Southeast Asia, bodies decay within a few days and can quickly become unrecognisable.
Diplomats and aid experts believe as many as 100 000 people may have been killed, but the government's latest toll announced on Tuesday recorded nearly 23 000 killed and more than 42 000 missing.
Exact number of casualties unknown
The exact number of casualties may never be known, but it is the worst cyclone in Asia since 1991 when 143 000 were killed in neighbouring Bangladesh.
The grieving farmer carries a photograph of two of his daughters in the breast pocket of his shirt.
He said it is the only assistance he has. "There are no NGO's here. No UN, only me."
Several Asian governments including Thailand, China, Indonesia, Singapore and India have flown in supplies, but the military government has dragged its feet in allowing aid experts from UN agencies and western countries.
On Friday, trucks carrying 20 tonnes of high-energy biscuits were travelling toward the inundated delta, among the first batch of UN aid to be sent from outside Myanmar.
State-run TV repeatedly shows senior military officers visiting towns and villages and soldiers unloading boxes of food and supplies or clearing debris.
In Bo Thin, some people sit in the front rooms of their houses, simply staring into space.
Many in the hamlet rely on friends and relatives in Labutta, 90km away, for food and water.
- Reuters