The Lao government has presented funds totalling US$20,000 and 2.5 tonnes of food aid to the government of Myanmar to help more than 20,000 victims of Cyclone Nargis, which hit the Southeast Asian country over the weekend.
Lao Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Bounkeuth Sangsomsak ( left ) presents US$20,000 and food to Myanmar 's Deputy Minister of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement Brigadier General Kyaw Myint, yesterday at Yangon International Airport . – Photo Phonephet Sitthivong
A Lao taskforce representing the government, led by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Bounkeuth Sangsomsak, yesterday flew to Yangon, the capital of Myanmar , to present the donations. The food aid included noodles, canned fish, packaged soup and drinking water.
The handover ceremony took place at the Yangon International Airport between Lao Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Bounkeuth Sangsomsak and Myanmar 's Deputy Minister of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, Brigadier General Kyaw Myint.
President Choummaly Sayasone and Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh have both sent messages of sympathy to the government of Myanmar .
According to Reuters, Myanmar 's government revised the cyclone's death toll estimate to nearly 22,500 on Tuesday. Another 41,000 are missing and the United Nations fears up to one million could be homeless.
The tropical cyclone packed winds of up to 190km per hour and slammed into Myanmar over the weekend. It occurred when a massive storm surge swept into the Irrawaddy delta.
Nargis is the first tropical cyclone of the North Indian Ocean season. It is the deadliest cyclone to hit Asia since 1991, when 143,000 people perished in Bangladesh .
