Myanmar raises death toll from Cyclone Mocha to 54, but full extent of damage still unknown

By GRANT PECK
Associated Press

BANGKOK (AP) — State media in Myanmar say at least 54 people were killed and more than 185,000 buildings damaged by a powerful cyclone last weekend. Communication difficulties and the military government’s tight control over information leave the actual extent of casualties and destruction unclear. Cyclone Mocha roared in from the Bay of Bengal on Sunday with high winds and rain slamming a corner of neighboring Bangladesh and a wider swathe of western Myanmar’s Rakhine state. There are fears there may have been many fatalities in crowded internal displacement camps in low-lying areas of the state. The camps are home to minority Rohingya Muslims who were displaced by a brutal government counterinsurgency campaign in 2017.