Myanmar Flooding Leaves 27 Dead; Government Declares Disaster Zones

At least 27 people have been killed after heavy monsoon rains caused flooding across Myanmar, officials said Friday.

The government has declared disaster zones in Chin State, Arakan State, Magwe Division and Sagaing Division after severe flooding across the country, reported Irrawaddy.

More than 110,000 people of 42 townships in 12 regions and states were affected by flooding caused by heavy rainfall in late July, officials said, according to Xinhua. The weather bureau warned of heavy rain in the coming days due to deep depression formed over Bangladesh.

"Most of the country is flooded now," a government official said, according to Al Jazeera. The official further said that authorities and rescue teams were struggling to access flood-hit areas.

"I've never experienced such a terrible flood in my life. The entire town has been under water for a few days," Thein Tun, a retired teacher in Rakhine state, told Reuters by phone.

President U Thein Sein visited flood-hit areas in Sagaing region on Friday. He promised that the government would make utmost efforts to provide aid to flood victims across the country, according to state-run Global New Light of Myanmar.

The troubled Rakhine state is worst affected among the four disaster zones. Arakan National Party, however, said that the government has yet to step up to help.

"We're asking the central government to help immediately to solve the crisis with tremendous funding since the state government cannot do it alone," said Khine Pyi Soe, Vice President of Arakan National Party (ANP), according to Radio Free Asia.

"Only some civil groups have been handing out food, but this is not sustainable and is for the short term," he said.

Tags

Myanmar, Flooding, Monsoon, Chin, Bangladesh