By Xinhua,
Yangon : Myanmar started on Tuesday a three-day nationwide mourning for thousands of cyclone victims with the country’s national flags flown at half mast.
In the biggest city of Yangon, the mourning took place amid heavy rain with government building, banks, schools, hotels and restaurants, and residential quarters flying the national flags at half-mast.
A deadly tropical cyclone Nargis, which occurred over the Bay of Bengal, hit five divisions and states — Ayeyawaddy, Yangon, Bago, Mon and Kayin on May 2 and May 3, of which Ayeyawaddy and Yangon inflicted the heaviest casualties and massive infrastructural damage including religious buildings, schools, hospitals, vessels, animals, crops cultivation, forest and ration.
According to an updated official death toll, as many as 77,738 people have been killed with 55,917 still missing. The number of the injured went to 19,359.