Over hundred deaths in Myanmar floods, thousands displaced: junta

The death toll in Myanmar in the wake of Typhoon Yagi has jumped to 113 and more than 320,000 people have been displaced, the junta has said.

"Around the country, 113 people have been killed, 64 are missing and 14 injured" as of the night of September 14, spokesman Zaw Min Tun said on Sunday, adding "more than 320,000 from 78,000 households were evacuated to temporary relief camps".

Adverse weather brought on by Typhoon Yagi, the strongest storm to hit Asia this year, has killed hundreds of people in Vietnam and Thailand, and flood waters from swollen rivers have inundated cities in both countries.

The flooding in Myanmar began last Monday, and at least 19 people had been killed by Friday morning.

Myanmar made a rare request for foreign aid to deal with the floods, state media reported on Saturday.

Destruction

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the storm's rains mainly affected the capital Naypyidaw, as well as the Mandalay, Magway, and Bago regions, along with eastern and southern Shan state, Mon, Kayah and Kayin states.

"Central Myanmar is currently the hardest hit, with numerous rivers and creeks flowing down from Shan hills," OCHA told the Reuters news agency via email.

Reports of more deaths and landslides have emerged, but gathering information has been challenging due to damaged infrastructure and downed phone and internet lines.

State media also reported that five dams, four pagodas, and more than 65,000 houses were destroyed by the flooding.

About a third of Myanmar's 55 million people require humanitarian assistance but many aid agencies, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, cannot operate in many areas because of access restrictions and security risks.