Heavy rains kill five in Myanmar's main city

Yangon, May 6: At least five people have died in the main commercial city of military-ruled Myanmar after the heaviest rainfall in at least four decades, state media and government officials said today.

Four of the victims died of fume inhalation when a short-circuit caused by floodwater set a transformer unit in their house in Yangon on fire, the Kyemon daily said.

A woman was electrocuted after stepping on a live power cable outside her home, the paper said.

''The casualties may be a bit higher. We are still trying to find out,'' one official, who did not want to be named, said.

Much of the leafy colonial era capital, which used to known as Rangoon, was under water yesterday after 24 hours of torrential rainfall.

One northern suburb of the city recorded 13.54 inches (34.39 cm) of rain, the biggest downpour in 39 years, the paper said.

In the Mingaladon area of the city, where the international airport sits, rainfall of 11.14 inches was the highest in 60 years, it added.

Hundreds of houses were underwater. Some buildings and trees had collapsed and telephone lines were cut.

Residents blamed the flooding on the city's poor drainage system, which is often choked with rubbish at the end of the October-May dry season.

Reuters>