Myanmar flood death toll climbs to 293: state media

The death toll in Myanmar in the wake of Typhoon Yagi has reached 293, with 89 people missing, the junta said on Thursday, as state media reported the first arrival of foreign aid.

Yagi swept across northern Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar more than a week ago, triggering floods and landslides that have killed 613 people across the region, according to official figures.

In Myanmar, 293 people were dead and 89 were missing as of Thursday morning, the junta's information team said.

On Wednesday it said that nearly 270,000 hectares (more than 660,000 acres) of rice and other crops had been submerged, and more than 100,000 farm animals killed.

The previous death toll reported by the junta was 268 people dead and 88 missing.

The floods have heaped more misery on a country where millions were already displaced by more than three years of conflict unleashed by the military's 2021 coup.

The UN has warned that as many as 630,000 people could be in need of assistance in Myanmar in the wake of Typhoon Yagi.

Last weekend, the junta issued a rare appeal for foreign aid to help cope with the disaster.

Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing has "ordered all to carry out rehabilitation tasks to return to normality within six months", the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar reported on Thursday.

On Wednesday an Indian navy ship delivered aid including dried food, clothes, medicine and tents at Thilawa port in commercial hub Yangon, the newspaper said.