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Curfew in Myanmar villages
13/05/2008 13:07 - (SA)
Pyin Ka Yaing, Myanmar - Some villages where Myanmar's military government has started delivering food aid to cyclone victims are now under a curfew due to fears of looting, residents said.
The military has commandeered at least two private ships to deliver rice to the island of Haing Gyi in the Irrawaddy Delta, the region hit hardest when the cyclone struck 11 days ago, residents said.
But since the food aid started arriving two days ago, armed soldiers have begun enforcing a 19:00 curfew to prevent looting at the warehouses where the rice is stored, they said.
"You can't go out after 19:00 because the soldiers will shoot," one 60-year-old man said in the village of Pyin Ka Yaing.
A motorbike taxi driver said he has stopped driving after 17:00 because he'd heard gunshots, believed to be soldiers trying to scare off looters.
Residents said that similar curfews have been imposed in other villages on the island, where the cyclone washed away entire communities and left boats lodged in roofs.
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