Red Cross boat carrying aid for Myanmar cyclone victims sinks

Boat carrying Myanmar aid sinks; toll climbs beyond 28,000

Red Cross boat carrying aid for Myanmar cyclone victims sinks; death toll soars above 28,000

Staff
AP News

May 11, 2008 20:55 EST

snip//

Highlighting the many challenges ahead, however, a Red Cross boat carrying rice, drinking water and other goods for more than 1,000 people sank Sunday near hard-hit Bogalay town. All four aid workers on board were safe.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies could not say how much of the cargo has been lost, but it said the food supplies were contaminated by river water.

"Apart from the delay in getting aid to people we may now have to re-evaluate how we transport that aid," said Michael Annear, the IFRC's disaster manager in Yangon, who described the sinking as "a big blow."

Other aid was increasingly getting through, the group said, but on "nowhere near the scale required."

more...

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2008/05/boat_carrying_myanmar_aid_sink.php

I was watching a BBC report that described how poor this country's infrastructure is. Most roads were built by the British in the 30's and 40's and were barely passable then...there's only one airfield that can handle large transports, most the local airports are grass fields that can handle only small planes and many of those strips were flooded out. Then there's the regime's xenophobic view of the outside world...very reminiscent of the old Soviet responses to a crisis. The regime is overwhelmed and ill-equipped to help their own people...this will be a very difficult week for those poor souls stuck in this disaster.