Britons missing after Burma cyclone

May 8 2008

Seventeen Britons in Burma remain unaccounted for following the devastating cyclone that killed as many as 100,000 people, the Foreign Office said.

The British nationals - who were either visiting the country or live as residents in the secretive south-east Asian state - have failed to make contact with friends or family in the UK six days after the disaster struck.

The Foreign Office stressed that problems with communications could be the reason, adding that they had heard no reports of any British casualties caught up in the emergency.

Around 200 British nationals live in Burma. In addition, some 7,500 UK tourists are believed to visit the country every year.

Those living in the country were warned by the British Embassy before Saturday of the cyclone that was about to hit.

A spokeswoman for the Foreign Office said: "At the moment we are aware of 17 British nationals that friends and family have not been able to make contact with."

She added: "But we have had no reports of British casualties and we have no reports that they are in danger."

Cyclone Nargis smashed into Burma on Saturday, bringing winds of up to 120mph, and leaving up to a million people homeless.

Official figures put confirmed deaths so far at 22,000 but at least 40,000 people are believed missing.

Shari Villarosa, the charge d'affaires of the US embassy in Burma, said that there may be "over 100,000 deaths" in the badly hit Irrawaddy Delta area.