The death toll from severe flooding across Myanmar has risen to 88, officials said today, as rising waters swallowed more homes in low-lying regions in some of the poorest parts of the country.
More than 330,000 people have been affected by torrential monsoon rains that triggered flash floods and landslides, cutting off communications as the deluge engulfed roads and destroyed bridges.
Residents have raced to bolster sand-bag defences along the Irrawaddy river in the southwest as floodwaters swell the mighty waterway, swamping dozens of villages as the waters drain from further north.
“Nothing like this has happened before, but I am not the only one suffering,” said Soe Min Paing, a fisherman from Kyauk Taing village in Nyaung Don township, whose home has been inundated.
The death toll has risen to 88 from 74 on Thursday, according to Phyu Lei Lei Tun of the social welfare ministry, although this could climb again as relief teams reach isolated areas, some of which remain cut off more than a week after the disaster struck.
