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Death toll rises to 47, tens of thousands affected in Myanmar floods

Xinhua, August 3, 2015 Adjust font size:

Heavy monsoon rains have left at least 47 people dead and affected more than 210,000 others in 12 out of Myanmar's 14 states and regions since June, the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement said on Monday.

At least 20 people were killed by floods in Myanmar's western Rakhine state, one of the hardest-hit areas, where natural disaster-affected zones were declared by the government on Friday, according to the ministry.

Relief aids were delivered to the state, which has been hit by floods days ago as a result of the cyclone Komen.

Moreover, landslides triggered by torrential rains swept Haka, the capital city of western Chin state, leaving some 700 homes destroyed.

More than 6,000 households were sheltered in 130 relief camps in 12 regions and states in the country, the ministry said.

The Myanmar Red Cross Association is requesting assistance from international red cross associations to help flood-hit victims in the country, the RCS said.

About 850,600 acres (344,493 hectares) of farmlands were submerged, of which Rakhine state suffered the most with over 260, 000 acres (105,300 hectares), an official of the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation told Xinhua.

Most of the country's major rivers have reached or above their danger levels, said the Meteorology and Hydrology Department.

Flooding caused by heavy rainfall during June and July has hit people from many parts of the country, destroying houses, farmland, railway lines, bridges and roads.

The country's weather bureau forecast that regionally heavy rains are expected in the coming days. Endi