Yangon: Myanmar government on Monday declared that more than 13,000 people were feared killed in the devastating cyclone that struck Myanmar on May 2.

It's been believed that this toll could rise dramatically as authorities try and reach islands and villages still cut off from the rest of the country.

The ruling junta, an authoritarian regime that cut the nation off from the international community for decades, has appealed for foreign aid to help in the recovery from Saturday's disaster, the country's deadliest storm on record.

The government, however, has given no explanation for the high death toll, but most people in the worst-hit region live in fragile bamboo homes with thatch or zinc roofs, which would have been swept way with their inhabitants by the onrushing tidal surge.

Source : Agencies