Thousands cyclone victims may never be identified

TENS of thousands of people killed in last month’s Burmese cyclone may never be identified because their bodies have decomposed so badly and many ended up far from home, an aid organisation said yesterday.

The task of burying an estimated 78,000 bodies has been overshadowed by efforts to assist Cyclone Nargis’ 2.4 million survivors, many of whom are still without adequate food, water and shelter, the International Committee of the Red Cross said.

As a result, bloated bodies still litter the Irrawaddy delta more than five weeks after the storm, while other bodies have been dumped in canals or unmarked mass graves.