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Red Cross: Up To 128,000 May Have Died In Myanmar Save Email Print
Posted: 9:42 AM May 15, 2008
Last Updated: 9:42 AM May 15, 2008
Reporter: Associated Press
Email Address: news@nbc11news.com

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Yangon, Myanmar (AP) The Association of Southeast Asian Nations is organizing an emergency team it hopes to send to Myanmar to assess the humanitarian crisis triggered by a cyclone more than a week and a-half ago.

The U.N.'s humanitarian chief welcomes a move by Myanmar's military rulers to allow some asian relief workers to help but he's demanding that other foreign experts be allowed in, too.

u.N. secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon says he's won a commitment from Myanmar's military government to increase the flow of international aid and do all it can to help the more than two million survivors believed to be in jeopardy, lacking adequate food, water or shelter.

Aid workers and survivors report horrid conditions, amid indications the government is hoarding relief supplies, not helping those in need.

The red cross estimates the cyclone death toll could be as high as 128,000. That's a much larger figure than the government tally of fewer than 39,000.

The grim forecast comes as heavy rains continue to disrupt aid operations, although forecasters are no longer predicting a second cyclone.

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