Cyclone in Myanmar kills at least 15,000

YANGON, Myanmar, May 5 (UPI) -- The death toll from the cyclone that slashed through Myanmar has soared to more than 15,000 people, official sources said late Monday.

Sources said casualties from Cyclone Nargis are expected to reach at least 10,000 in the city of Bogalay alone, with another 1,000 dead in the city of Laputta, both in the country's Irrawaddy delta region, Xinhua reported.

The state-run Chinese news agency also cited government sources saying at least 20,000 homes had been destroyed on Haing Kyi island in the river delta, leaving more than 97,000 people without shelter.

The Myanmar government also said thousands more were injured and missing in the aftermath of the storm, which slogged through Yangon and the Irrawaddy delta packing dangerous rains and winds of more than 130 miles per hour, Radio New Zealand reported Tuesday.

Foreign Minister Nyan Win said the government would accept international assistance, and aid shipments were being prepared.

The United Nations says Myanmar's military government agreed to allow U.N. aid agencies to operate in the country formerly known as Burma to help survivors.

"The U.N. will begin preparing assistance now to be delivered and transported to Myanmar as quickly as possible," said Paul Risley of the World Food Program.