Mourning period unnoticed by cyclone survivors

BURMA began three days of mourning yesterday for 133,000 people dead or missing in its cyclone, but barely anyone seemed to notice and most of the two million survivors were still desperate for help.

In one of the first official displays of grief since the cyclone pummelled swathes of this impoverished country 18 days ago, national flags in front of Rangoon’s city hall fluttered at half mast under overcast skies.

But there was no public ceremony and most people in Rangoon appeared unaware of the mourning period.