Death toll from cyclone Mocha increases to 48 in Myanmar

Members of a rescue team clean up fallen trees in Sittwe on May 17, 2023. (PHOTO / AFP)

YANGON — The death toll from Cyclone Mocha in Myanmar has reached 48 as of Wednesday afternoon, state media reported on Thursday.

According to The Mirror Daily, Cyclone Mocha damaged 44,928 houses, 376 religious buildings, 59 monasteries, 439 schools, 59 hospitals or clinics, 11 telecom towers, 119 lamp posts, two airports, and 158 departmental buildings.

Myanmar issued declarations of natural disaster-affected areas for 17 townships in Rakhine state on Monday and four townships in Chin state on Tuesday

The regions and states battered by Mocha include Rakhine, Ayeyarwady, Bago, Yangon, Magway, Sagaing, Chin, Mandalay, Mon, Shan and Nay Pyi Taw Council Area, the media report said.

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Mocha caused the loss of property in 1,068 wards or villages in the Southeast Asian country, it said.

Myanmar issued declarations of natural disaster-affected areas for 17 townships in Rakhine state on Monday and four townships in Chin state on Tuesday.

Local authorities said that their emergency response teams were in cooperation with local rescue teams in the cyclone-hit areas.

Mocha made landfall near Sittwe in western Myanmar's Rakhine state on Sunday, with winds of up to 130 mph (about 209 kph), and raged across the country.