Myanmar Cyclone Death Toll Could Top 10,000

A cyclone that hit Myanmar earlier this week caused catastrophic damage with a death toll that could top 10,000.

Myanmar's foreign minister says the death toll from the cyclone that ripped through the country could reach 10,000.

Foreign diplomats said Foreign Minister Nyan Win acknowledged the possibility of the high casualty figure today at a briefing given to them and representatives of U.N. and international aid agencies.

State radio earlier reported that the official death toll from Saturday's Cyclone Nargis had risen to 3,939 from an original count of 351.

The diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting was held behind closed doors, said the foreign minister acknowledged 59 deaths in the country's largest city of Yangon.

The military junta that runs the country could find itself in its most serious and precarious situation since taking power if its emergency response doesn't assist its citizens in a timely fashion.

Nearly 3,000 are considered missing, though I fear that the numbers are far higher. The cyclone also sparked a riot at an infamous prison in the capital city of Yangon, with 36 dead:

And another 36 died in Insein Prison in a cyclone-related incident, according to Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, Burma, a Thailand-based non-governmental organization.

AAPPB said the cyclone hit Insein Prison Friday night, ripping off many of the ancient institution's zinc roofs.

About 1,000 of the prisoners congregated inside main prison hall to seek safety, and were locked inside the hall.

Seeking to keep warm, some of the prisoners reportedly started a fire, which spread and caused a panic, said AAPPB, citing reports from families of the prisoners.

Soldiers and riot police were called in to quell the situation and opened fire on the prisoners, killing 36 and wounding another 70.

'It was merciless and unnecessary actions to shoot. We would like to have an independent investigation on that matter,' said Tate Naing, a spokesman for AAPPB.

The admission of nearly 4,000 deaths so far is a far cry from earlier official tallies that put the death toll at 351. It would appear that the government is clearly out of its league here and is ill prepared to deal with such a massive scale of destruction.