Hundreds killed in Myanmar cyclone

YANGON, Myanmar, May 4 (UPI) -- A tropical cyclone packing 120-mph winds tore through Myanmar, killing at least 351 people and destroying thousands of homes, officials said Sunday.

The Irrawaddy region of the southeast Asian country was hit severely, with 75 percent of buildings collapsed in one area, the British network reported. That region and four others were declared disaster areas.

"The entire lower Burma is affected. In some areas, entire villages disappeared," said Khin Maung Win of the Democratic Voice of Burma.

The large city of Rangoon reportedly had no power and was littered with wreckage. A total of 20,000 homes were leveled and 90,000 were reportedly left homeless on Haing-gyi island, off the southwest coast, the BBC reported.

The network reported military and police rescuers had begun surveying the stricken areas.

The cyclone was headed toward Thailand, where warnings had been issued. However, the storm was reportedly weakening.