By Mizzima News
Monday, 05 May 2008- Chiang Mai: An eyewitness that passed through Day Da Ye Township in Irrawaddy Division told Mizzima that deaths due to the cyclone in Day Da Ye Township may increase dramatically, reporting many corpses laying along the highway.
He saw firsthand the bodies of humans and animals along the road that passes through Day Da Ye while on his way to Rangoon.
Day Da Ye, about 40 miles southwest of Rangoon, is in Irrawaddy Division. Both Irrawaddy and Rangoon Divisions are among the declared disaster areas, along with Bago Division and Mon and Karen States.
"It could be up to a hundred bodies," reported the eyewitness, though he could not provide an exact figure.
Current government announced figures do not mention any deaths and damage in Day Da Ye Township.
Since there are no telephone lines working in the entire Irrawaddy Division, Mizzima has been forced to rely on the accounts of travelers passing through the region.
In Da La Township of Rangoon Division, almost all houses throughout the township suffered damage. Moreover, the residents are facing a severe shortage of drinking water.
About 90 percent of small boats, the only means of transport between Rangoon city and Da La have been destroyed by the cyclone.
At least 351 people were killed when Cyclone Nargis lashed Burma on Friday and Saturday, according to the latest government figures. On Hine Gyi Island alone, worst affected, 109 perished. Nargis has destroyed at least 20,000 homes and left more than 90,000 people homeless across Burma.
However, with the Burmese junta's tradition of secrecy and control over the media, observers said the death toll could be higher than the government admits.
A Mizzima correspondent in Rangoon said that top government leaders used helicopters to visit Maw La Myaing Kyun in Irrawaddy Division, showing that Maw La Myaing Kyun must be one of the worst affected areas.
Moreover, he added that one warship from Burma's navy that was docked in the entrance to the Rangoon Sea was sunk, along with one big fishing boat which sank near Kyi Myint Taing harbor in Rangoon.
Rangoon residents are trying to carry water with trucks and heavy vehicles from Inya and Kandawgyi Lakes due to the severe shortage of water publicly available.
In and around Anaw Ya Htar Road in downtown Rangoon, a long queue of people are lining up for drinking water distributed by the Municipal Department, according to a Mizzima correspondent in Rangoon.
The government has re-opened gas stations in Rangoon and the fuel shortage problem has lessened.
However, long queues of vehicles up to two miles long waiting for petrol can be seen in Rangoon. Gasoline and diesel prices on the black market have reached 12,000 kyat ($10.90) and 15,000 kyat ($13.60), respectively, from 7,000 kyat and 8,000 kyat yesterday morning.
The government has announced that petrol shops will be opened till 10 p.m. Some of the main roads in the city have reopened for traffic and the city is noisy from extensive generator use.
In New Dagon, a satellite township of Rangoon, tidewater is causing trees and houses to collapse.
Inya Road, near where Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi lives under house arrest, remains blocked with fallen trees.
However, Mizzima has not been able to confirm whether the house of Aung San Suu Kyi was damaged in the cyclone or not.
Residents in outlying regions of Rangoon are especially worried that the poor situation could lead to widespread looting.
Suffering from a water shortage, some people are trying to take water by blowing up the main water supply pipe, known as Gyo Pyu, in Yan Kin and South Okkalapa Townships. In Tharkayta Township, a suburb of Rangoon, residents are trying to obtain water from fire hoses, which is prohibited under Burmese law.
Rangoon General Hospital has refused admission to some patients due to an electricity shortage. The hospital is relying on generators.
Essential food prices are continuing to rise today, with an egg costing 400 kyat (0.36 cents), up from 300 kyat yesterday.
In the meantime, the price of zinc roofing has jumped 500 percent, with one foot of the material now costing 3,000 kyat, compared with a price of 600 kyat before the cyclone hit Rangoon.
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