Rapid aid team moves into Myanmar cyclone zone
Jun 5th, 2008
According to AFP news
A 200-strong team of aid experts from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the UN started deploying in Myanmar’s cyclone-hit Irrawaddy delta on Thursday 05.06.08, ASEAN said.
The Emergency Rapid Assessment Team was “now ready to move into the cyclone stricken remote delta areas” to start a long-awaited examination of the needs of millions of people affected by the May 2-3 storm, ASEAN said in a statement.
“We will begin with two advance teams being ferried by the World Food Programme’s helicopter to two main townships of Labutta and Pyapon,” ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan said.
Surin said the next two weeks would be “crucial for building international confidence in this joint mission” between ASEAN, the UN and Myanmar government.
The team will report on its findings in mid-July, ASEAN said.