The cyclone has killed more than 78,000, and another 55,000 are missing — and the Red Cross and the UN expect the death toll to soar well above 100,00

19-05-2008
The truth ... videos sold to Burmese locals show the real state of the country

SECRET videos of the Burma cyclone horror are being sold to locals desperate to know the true scale of the disaster.

The country’s ruling military junta is banning reporting of the truth and thousands of the videos — containing graphic images from foreign TV — are being bought in markets.

They include footage of bloated bodies and flattened villages. Khin Soe, 28, bought one soon after learning five of his family had died.

He said: “I feel sad and I want to know what happened — that’s why I am buying this.”

The cyclone has killed more than 78,000, and another 55,000 are missing — and the Red Cross and the UN expect the death toll to soar well above 100,000.

Save the Children warned thousands of youngsters could starve to death in weeks.

Burma’s government is insisting on controlling distribution of aid and has banned foreigners from cyclone-hit areas, dramatically slowing the relief effort.

International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander said yesterday it was “a race against time” to get aid workers into Burma before the death toll mounted