Local MP says tens of thousands died in Laputta alone

by Maung Dee

Tuesday, 06 May 2008 00:00

Mizzima interviewed Laputta constituency MP and Township NLD Vice-Chairman Dr. Aye Kyu on the death toll in Laputta in Irrawaddy Division where the tropical cyclone Nargis was believed to have killed thousands of people. According to the official preliminary death toll released today, 1,000 died in Laputta. But Dr. Aye Kyu said that the real figure is much higher. Dr. Aye Kyu arrived in Rangoon last night. Q: Tell us about what happened in Laputta? A: The storm started at about 3 p.m. on 2nd, Friday. The storm decelerated at about 10-11 p.m. The wind devastated the whole town.  We were lucky as our town is on high ground. Even though the water was waist deep in downtown areas it reached chest level in some suburban areas. There were no homes with the roof remaining intact in our town. Some houses collapsed. The roofs were torn off and blown away by the storm. The people are living without shelter now. The people had to take shelter when as it rained. There were snakes in the flood waters. A person who lived across the 'Yway' River was bitten by snake. A girl lived near my house was also bitten by snake and she had to wait for two days as there was no medicine at the hospital. A grandfather and grandson died when their building collapsed during the storm at midnight. The roof of the building collapsed and fell on them. The grandson died on the spot and the skull of grandfather cracked open. Nine people died when the monastery wall collapsed and fell on them. These people took shelter at the monastery after the storm blew away the roofs of their homes. Eight people died in 'Yaysaigone' when the building collapsed. Q: Which part of your town is worst hit? A: The worst hit is the bottom of the town, close to the sea. All the villages near the three rivers namely 'Pyanmalw', 'Yway' and 'Alekyaw' are badly hit and totally devastated. There are 56 village tracts in our township of which over 30 village tracts were lashed and devastated by the storm. There are about 10 villages in each village tract. All these villages were hit as the flood water level reached 15 to 20 feet. Many people climbed on the rooftop to flee from the water. But they fell down from the rooftop when the tidal wave washed them away. In some villages, only 300 to 400 survived of a total population of 4,000 to 5,000. Half of Laputta was devastated and eliminated. Q: Can you tell us the names of the worst hit villages? A: Pyinsalu, Thingangyi, and Yway are the worst hit areas. The remaining villages are almost totally eliminated. Q: Can you tell us the percentage of male, female and children among storm victims in these Pyinsalu and Thingangyi villages? A: We cannot distinguish who is male and who is female. I asked a girl who survived in the storm how many persons survived. She replied that only 200 to 300 people survived of a total population of 4,000-5,000. The tidal waves were as high as the houses. The people had to cling to the post of their houses when the tidal waves came. They were washed away by the tidal wave when they could no longer cling to the posts of their houses and nearby trees following exhaustion. Q: The official death toll in Laputta is only over 1,000. Your figure is at least 10,000 . Why is there so much difference? A: I came to Rangoon to challenge this official death toll. There are many villages which have totally disappeared. Most of the villages in the bottom half of our township were totally devastated by the storm. The percentage of survivors is very slim, only 1 or 2 out of every 6, only 3 out of 10, not more than that. The rest of the people are dead. Almost all the people in the bottom half of our township perished in the storm. The corpses are scattered in these areas. Some died with their heads buried in the mud behind the nipa palm tree bushes. Some died with their hands clinging to trees. Some corpses are floating in the water. It is terrible and horrible to see the corpses. After the storm, the whole nipa palm tree forest and toddy forest were destroyed. Communication towers built by Japan broke and fell to the ground. Some fled to the embankment to flee from the rising water and tidal wave but many died there when the water level reached neck deep even on the high ground. I saw over 100 people dead near the embankment. The tidal wave and the storm wind destroyed almost all houses in our township, nearly 100 percent. Q: What relief and resettlement work did the government do for the storm victims? A: The relief workers didn't come until a day after. They come only after two days by making excuses that the storm winds were still strong. The survivors had to live for one and half day without any food. The survivors were rescued but the corpses are not yet cleared. A relief centre has been opened at Laputta Strand Road, No. 5 Ward with Red Cross flag flying. They provided food, clothes and medicine. For shelter, they sent the survivors to monasteries and schools. Some are living at friends' houses. There are no medicines in the hospital crowded with patients and torn off roof. The people had to go to nearby clinics at their own expenses. The government can't do much for the survivors. These survivors cannot go back to their own villages even when the storm water receded as there are no houses left, no drinking water, no food, nothing at all. Their wells, the source of drinking water, are flooded with sea water. No one can drink the sea water. They cannot survive if they go back to their places. They have no money, no spare clothes when they fled the town. They thought they can survive here where at least free boiled rice porridge is available. How can they go back to their villages? Q: How many storm victims reached Laputta? A: About 10,000. It's horrible to hear their stories. The people are crying and said that about half of their family members perished in the storm. They lost 2 to 3 people in each household with 6 family members. Q: Didn't the people hear the storm warning issued by the government? A: Yes, they heard the storm warning over the radio and TV. But according to our experience, most of the storms originated in Bay of Bengal never hit our area. The storm warning issued by Bureau of Meteorology said that the storm originated in Bay of Bengal, 350 miles southwest Bassein (Pathein). The storms usually move westward. We thought like many previous storms, it would move westward, reach Haingyi and then to Gwa, Sandoway (Thandwe), Akyab (Sittwe), and finally to Bangladesh. This is the storm formula in Bay of Bengal. This is according to my own experience of 30 years in Laputta. Like me, the people were calm and no worried about the storm. But this time, the storm turned back eastward from Haingyi Island, then crossed Laputta, Bogale and finally to Rangoon. This is an unprecedented devastating storm. We knew about the apparent danger of this storm only when the storm wind was gaining speed and saw the rising water level. Q: Did you face any difficulties in coming to Rangoon? A: We can go travel along the  highway throughout Myaungmya. I saw buildings and huts collapsed on the way. But the water could not reach the highway. I left Laputta at 10 a.m. yesterday and reached Rangoon at about 9 p.m. Next >