Myanmar breaks cyclone silence

Reports from the state-run media did not confirm the figures issued Friday by the United Nations' Children's Fund (Unicef), which said Myanmar's military government had made a rare appeal for aid after the May 19 cyclone.

"There have been deaths and missing of people," The Mirror newspaper said, without providing details.

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The storm, the worst to hit the region in nearly four decades, whipped over the Bay of Bengal near Myanmar's border with Bangladesh and struck several coastal townships in Rakhine state, according to official media and relatives of residents there. One Myanmar security official told AFP there were unconfirmed initial reports that 200 people were missing, mainly fishermen who were caught out at sea.

Some 1,000 households in Myebon and Pauktaw townships and 150 in Sittwe township were affected by the storm, The Mirror said, giving no further figures.

"The Red Cross, led by the social welfare relief and resettlement ministry under the supervision of the western command commander, rushed to affected villages and are taking relief measures such as providing necessary items, and drinking water, and preventing waterborne diseases," it said.

Tropical storms routinely lash Rakhine state -- a key fishing area -- during the monsoon season, which Yangon meteorological services said was to begin this year on May 20.