May 5, 2008 (AFP)-More than 10,000 people have been killed in a tropical cyclone that struck Burma at the weekend, foreign minister Nyan Win told state television, adding that his nation would welcome international aid.

"According to the latest information, more than 10,000 people were killed," Nyan Win said, after briefing foreign diplomats.

"Information is still being collected, and there could be more casualties," he added.

Nyan Win also welcomed Thailand’s promise to send emergency food and medicine, saying Burma would welcome international aid from other countries.

"We will welcome help like this from other countries, because our people are in difficulty," he said.

He said 57 ships had sunk in the Irrawaddy River, adding that smaller boats had also been destroyed.

State television showed images of entire communities that had flooded since Tropical Cyclone Nargis struck late Friday. Earlier, state media said tens of thousands of people may have been killed in the township of Bogalay alone.

The United Nations said hundreds of thousands of people had been left homeless when the storm, packing winds of 190 kilometres (120 miles) per hour, ripped through the countryside, destroying entire villages in its fury.

Thousands of buildings were flattened as the furious cyclone also ripped power lines to shreds, uprooted trees that blocked key roads and disrupted water supplies in the main city and former capital, Rangoon.

5 May 2008 AFP – Norway said Monday it was ready to offer up to 10 million kroner (1.3 million euros, 1.96 million dollars) in emergency aid to Myanmar, where a weekend cyclone killed more than 10,000 people.

The Scandinavian country said however it would not provide the aid directly to the military junta, preferring instead to channel the money through the United Nations or the Red Cross.

"The situation is very difficult for the Burmese people, who were already living in a precarious situation," Norwegian Development Cooperation Minister Erik Solheim said in a statement.

"It is now important to ensure that the international community can provide the necessary aid to the affected regions," he added.

Asked who would receive the Norwegian aid contribution, a spokesman for the minister, Hilde Klemetsdal, excluded a direct transfer to the military regime.

"It’s too early to say since the Myanmar regime has yet to officially request any aid from the international community," she told AFP.

"But it will not be through the regime. It would be more natural to channel it through the UN and/or the Red Cross," she added.

May 5, 2008 (AFP)

May 5, 2008 (AFP)-The death toll from the cyclone that hit Burma over the weekend has reached 3,969, state television said Monday, warning that thousands more may have been killed in the disaster.

A further 2,129 people were officially listed as missing, it said, adding tens of thousands more may have been killed in the remote towns of Bogalay and Labutta in the Irrawaddy delta.