Majority Of Dead In Myanmar Cyclone Were Children, Agency Claims

Yangon, Myanmar (AHN) - The United Nations agency Save the Children said on Tuesday that at least 40 percent of the cyclone victims in Myanmar were children, with the death toll likely to rise because of the military's continued rejection of international aid and millions of survivors without access to needed food and assistance.

According to spokesman Dan Collinson, the devastation, which erased whole communities from the landscape, took a high toll on young people because the majority of Myanmar's population is below 18.

He told Agence France-Presse, "To be honest it's highly likely to be more than 40 percent, because children are less likely to withstand these kinds of storm surges. Children are that much more vulnerable."

But despite the massive destruction of the cyclone that has killed over 62,000, Myanmar's military rulers continue to refuse to accept international aid and volunteers.

Vice-Admiral Soe Thein said his government was grateful for the aid shipment from Washington but insisted the military has sufficient capability to handle the awesome task of search and rescue efforts as well as rebuilding the impoverished country.

But aid workers dispute this claim and said the government lacks the equipment and the expertise to distribute aid and even conduct search and rescue efforts because they don't have helicopters to reach inaccessible communities.

In Irrawaddy Delta, one of the heavily-hit communities, the Burmese military transport aid with dugout canoes.

As frustration of aid workers and international donors rises and the continued insistence of the Burmese military to control most of the distribution, dead bodies are piling up on the streets across Burma.