Myanmar flood death toll tops 100

The death toll from severe flooding across Myanmar has topped 100, state media reported yesterday, with nearly one million people affected as fears intensify for the country's crucial rice bowl region.

Floods from a heavy monsoon season have cut through swathes of South and Southeast Asia in recent weeks, claiming hundreds of lives and displacing millions.

Myanmar, one of Asia's most impoverished countries, has been hit particularly hard by weeks of torrential rain with 12 out of 14 states and regions suffering flooding.

International aid has been stepped up in recent days following an official government request for help.

The Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper yesterday gave updated government figures, of "more than 100" dead and "nearly one million" people affected nationwide by the inundations.

More than 1.2 million acres (486,000 hectares) of rice fields are currently under water, with more than 430,000 acres destroyed by the floods, the paper added.

Four regions have been designated disaster zones, with the cyclone-battered western state of Rakhine particularly hard hit.

In recent days fears have grown for rising waters in the the more downstream areas of the Irrawaddy basin and its delta, two key agricultural areas close to the commercial hub Yangon.

Citing the weather bureau, the Global New Light of Myanmar said river levels had dropped slightly on Sunday but "still remained above their designated danger levels".