熱帶風暴肆虐緬甸，至少造成６．５萬人死亡或失蹤

Relief workers in Burma fear up to 50，000 people may be dead after Cyclone Nargis hit the country on May 2nd， leaving over a million homeless.

在緬甸參與救災的工作人員擔憂，5月2日襲擊緬甸的強熱帶風暴“納爾吉斯”過境后，死亡人數會升至5萬人，無家可歸的人超過100萬。

The cyclone， which had been headed for Bangladesh before veering east and hitting the Burmese coast in the Irawaddy delta area， caused extremely high winds and storm waves in excess of twelve feet in height.

強熱帶風暴本是朝孟加拉國方向前進，但風力中心忽然向東急轉襲擊了伊洛瓦底江三角洲流域的緬甸海岸。風暴引起了強風，海面卷起高達12英尺的巨浪。

In one district of the Irawaddy region， three out of every four buildings were blown down by the force of the cyclone. About two thirds of the casualties were in the town of Bogalay， some 90 km south-west of the former capital Rangoon.

風暴造成了伊洛瓦底地區的其中一個區域3/4的房屋被吹倒。2/3的遇難者都是在距離仰光西南約90公里處的波迦來鎮。

The official death count released by the Burmese government stands at 28，453 at the time of writing， though due to the incompleteness of the information from the stricken delta of the Irrawaddy river UN and charity workers in the city of Rangoon privately believe that the number will eventually be double that – maybe even greater.

截止筆者寫稿時（5月12日），據緬甸政府官方統計，遇難人數已達到28453人。然而，由于滿目瘡痍的伊洛瓦底江三角洲地區信息不完整，在仰光的聯合國和慈善機構的工作人員對這一數字表示質疑，傷亡數量可能是統計數據的一倍甚至更多。

Aid agencies in Burma have reported many of the cyclone's survivors were moving out of the worst-hit areas - in some cases relocated by the Burmese authorities - to camps on the fringes of the disaster zone.

緬甸的救護機構稱許多風暴生還者正在搬離受災最嚴重的地區，由緬甸政府重新安置，在災區的邊緣搭建營帳。

The UN said that about 206，000 people were crowded into 218 camps， often set up on schools， monasteries or temples that withstood the cyclone's force and the tidal wave that washed over the delta. In Laputta， one of the most devastated towns where 95% of the buildings were damaged or destroyed， as many as 150，000 people were crammed into the shelters.

聯合國方面稱大約20萬6000人擠在218座營帳中，學校、修道院或者寺廟大都挨過了風暴和席卷整個三角洲的巨浪襲擊。拉布達是受災最嚴重的小鎮之一，15多萬人涌入避難所，那里的房屋有95%受到損壞甚至被徹底毀壞。

The country's military government has been accused of exacerbating the problem by being slow to accept international aid， including refusing a $250，000 aid package and a disaster relief team from the United States， and impounding food and medical supplies sent by organisations such as the Red Cross. (Sources: The Times The Guardian)

該國軍政府對接受國際援助行動遲緩，因而導致問題嚴重程度加劇，為此而受到了指控，其中包括政府拒絕接受美國政府提供的25萬美元的救災物資和一個救災小組的援助。而緬甸政府方面還扣押了例如紅十字會等國際組織提供的食物和醫療供給。（源自：《泰晤士報》和《衛報》）