AP
May 12, 2008
YANGON, Myanmar - A Red Cross boat carrying rice and drinking water for cyclone victims sank yesterday, as the death toll jumped to more than 28,000 and aid groups warned of a humanitarian catastrophe.
The boat was carrying the Red Cross' first shipment to the disaster area. All four relief workers aboard survived.
International aid has begun trickling in, but nearly all foreign relief workers have been barred entry, as the nation's junta says it wants to hand out all donated supplies on its own.
The boat was making the 12-hour journey from Yangon to Mawlamyinegyun when it hit a submerged tree trunk near the badly damaged town of Bogalay.
Lost were 100 bags of rice, 1,300 gallons of drinking water, 10,000 water-purification tablets, 30 boxes of clothing and other goods. Any food supplies saved were contaminated by river water.
State TV, meanwhile, said the cyclone's death toll had gone up by about 5,000, to 28,458, with 33,416 still missing.
But international aid groups said the number of dead could eventually top 100,000 - and the British aid group Oxfam said 1.5 million, if residents don't get clean water and sanitation soon.
Aid is piling up in foreign countries, awaiting the junta's approval.
