YANGON: The death toll from Typhoon Yagi in Myanmar has jumped to 74, state media reported on Sunday. As of Friday evening, floods in Myanmar had “74 dead and 89 people missing,” Global New Light of Myanmar reported. Floods and landslides have killed nearly 350 people in Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand as Typhoon Yagi hit the region last weekend, according to official figures. Search and rescue operations are continuing, she said, adding that more than 65,000 houses and five dams have been destroyed by the floods. The junta’s previous death toll was 33, with more than 235,000 people displaced, according to figures released on Friday. In central areas, including around the sprawling, low-lying capital of Naypyidaw, swathes of farmland were flooded. There were reports of landslides in hilly areas, but with roads and bridges damaged and telephone and internet lines down, information was difficult to obtain. The floods have piled on more suffering in a country where war has raged since the military took power in 2021. More than 2.7 million people have already been displaced in Myanmar due to the conflict. The head of Myanmar’s junta has made a rare request for foreign aid to deal with flooding, state media reported on Saturday. The military has previously blocked or thwarted humanitarian aid from abroad. Last year, it suspended travel permits for humanitarian groups trying to reach around one million victims of powerful Cyclone Mocha, which hit the west of the country.
