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Typhoon Yagi death toll rises to 74 in Myanmar amid regional floods

The death toll from Typhoon Yagi in Myanmar has risen to 74, with nearly 350 killed across Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. Floods and landslides have caused extensive damage, prompting Myanmar’s junta to request international aid.

AFP ASIA
Published September 15,2024
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The death toll in Myanmar in the wake of Typhoon Yagi has jumped to 74, state media reported on Sunday, a day after its junta made a rare request for foreign aid.

Floods and landslides have killed almost 350 people in Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand in the wake of Typhoon Yagi, which hit the region last weekend, according to official figures.

In Myanmar, the floods "resulted in 74 deaths and 89 people missing" as of Friday evening, the Global New Light of Myanmar said.

Search and rescue operations were ongoing, it said, adding that the floods had destroyed more than 65,000 houses and five dams, heaping further misery on the country where war has raged since the military's 2021 coup.

The junta's previous death toll was 33, with more than 235,000 people displaced, according to figures released on Friday.

Swathes of farmland have been inundated in central regions, including around the sprawling, low-lying capital Naypyidaw.

There have been reports of landslides in hilly areas but with roads and bridges damaged and phone and internet lines down, compiling information has been difficult.

The Sittaung and Bago rivers, which flow through central and southern Myanmar, were both still above dangerous levels on Sunday, state media said, athough water levels were expected to fall in the coming days.

Authorities in Myanmar had opened 82 "relief camps" to house displaced people, according to state media.

Thailand's weather office warned Sunday of further heavy rain in provinces along the Mekong river.