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400 people lost their lives in Rakhine due to strong attack

  • International
  • 16 May, 2023 22:32:28

Photo: Collected

International Desk:  Hundreds of people are feared to have been killed in Myanmar's Rakhine due to the strong cyclone Mokha. A local aid organization and a Rohingya rights activist reported the information on Tuesday (May 16). The agency said hundreds of people have been killed in Rakhine and some temporary Rohingya camps have also been badly damaged. This aid organization named Partners Relief and Development runs its operations in Rakhine State. They said Rohingya living near the capital, Sittwe, reported that their shelter camps were completely destroyed by the cyclone and that there were "reports of several hundred deaths" immediately after the cyclone.

On the other hand, Rohingya rights activist Aung Ko Mo said on Twitter that 400 people died in Sittwe alone. Apart from being a Rohingya rights activist, he is also in charge of the Human Rights Affairs Minister of the Unity Government. Last Sunday (May 14), Mokha struck Bangladesh's coastal region, Cox's Bazar, St. Martin's and Myanmar's Rakhine state. The country's military junta declared Rakhine a 'disaster area' on Monday night, a day after the cyclone hit with winds of up to 250 kmph. Mobile towers, trees and roofs of houses and tin sheds were blown away in Rakhine by the cyclone. In addition, many low-lying areas of Rakhine were flooded due to cyclone-induced rains and floods.

The United Nations humanitarian aid organization Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said that Rakhine's capital Sittua and its surrounding areas have been heavily damaged by the cyclone. In a statement on Monday, USOCHA said, 'Preliminary data shows that the extent of the damage is extensive. In addition, people displaced by the civil war will need more help. Around 200,000 people lived in the path of the cyclone. Among them are the Rohingya population of Rakhine. In 2017, many fled to Bangladesh when the Myanmar army started a crackdown on the Rohingya. Many others stayed in Rakhine. Most of those who were in Rakhine now live in shelters.

 

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