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Cyclone's Toll Worsens

Posted May 14, 08 8:04 PM CDT in World 

(Newser) – The UN today nearly doubled its estimate of the number of people "severely affected" by the cyclone in Burma to up to 2.5 million and said they were in dire need of immediate aid, Reuters reports. The frustrated UN chief urged the creation of a "high-level pledging conference" of donor nations and said it was sending a top diplomat to meet with Burmese leaders to try to convince them to allow in more aid and relief workers. 

Those leaders, however, continue to insist they have the situation under control. The International Red Cross said that between 68,000 and 128,000 people have died so far. Even the lower number is about double the official state figure. Two weeks after the cyclone, relief remains at a relative trickle, and a US military official said supplies were stacking up at the Yangon airport.

Source Reuters

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Myanmar children reach their hands out to receive a free banana from a local donor on the outskirts of Yangon, Myanmar, on Wednesday May 14, 2008. (AP Photo)   (AP Photo)
Volunteers from the Singapore Red Cross Society pack aid supplies at an army logistics center for cyclone victims in Myanmar Wednesday, May 14, 2008 in Singapore.   (AP Photo)
Two men work on the damage brought by Cyclone Nargis on the outskirts of Yangon, Myanmar, Wednesday, May 14, 2008. (AP Photo)   (AP Photo)
Myanmar boys load charcoal in a machine at a makeshift manufacturing house on the outskirts of Yangon, Myanmar, Wednesday, May 14, 2008.   (AP Photo)
Myanmar children work on charcoal at a makeshift manufacturing house on the outskirts of Yangon, Myanmar, Wednesday May 14, 2008.   (AP Photo)
Myanmar children line up to receive water from a local donor on the outskirts of Yangon, Myanmar, on Wednesday May 14, 2008. (AP Photo)   (AP Photo)
Myanmar children line up to receive food and water from local donors on the outskirts of Yangon, Myanmar on Wednesday May 14, 2008. (AP Photo)   (AP Photo)
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Burma • Myanmar • natural disaster • Cyclone Nargis • cyclone


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