Myanmar Residents Hunt For Water As UN Asks Junta For Access

Residents of Myanmar's cyclone-ravaged Rakhine state capital queued for rice and drinking water on Wednesday as the United Nations negotiated with the internationally isolated junta for access to hard-hit areas

Sittwe, Myanmar, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th May, 2023 ) :Residents of Myanmar's cyclone-ravaged Rakhine state capital queued for rice and drinking water on Wednesday as the United Nations negotiated with the internationally isolated junta for access to hard-hit areas.

Cyclone Mocha tore through Myanmar and Bangladesh on Sunday, bringing lashing rain and winds of 195 kilometres per hour (120 mph) that collapsed buildings and turned streets into rivers.

The storm killed at least 81 people across Myanmar, according to statements given by local leaders and officials to AFP journalists and state media tallies.

Residents in the Rakhine capital Sittwe queued for small tanks of drinking water after the cyclone stopped production at purification plants that supply potable water in the city of some 150,000 inhabitants.

"We stored some water but after two days there is none left in our home," said Ko Htun, who was queueing under the noon sun for water being handed out by a civil society organisation.

"Rich people can afford to buy water but poor people can't," he told AFP.

Aye Hla, another Sittwe resident, queued for rice being given out by the World food Programme at a monastery in the city.

"I haven't eaten for four days," the 47-year-old said.

"I don't have bowls, plates or a home and I don't even have clothes to change. I'm here to ask for rice as my family is starving."Hundreds of bags of rice had been airlifted to Sittwe and a naval vessel carrying rice, communication equipment and other aid was expected to arrive late Wednesday, according to the Global New Light of Myanmar.