Wild elephant kills Rathedaung villager

27 May 2023

DMG Newsroom
27 May 2023, Rathedaung
 
A wild elephant killed a local man from the Donpaik, part of Arakan State’s Rathedaung Township on Saturday morning, according to residents.
 
The man has been identified as U Maung Hla Gyi, 70. He was attacked by a wild elephant while he was cutting down bamboo on the Mayu Mountain Range about three furlongs from the village, said Ko Yan Myo Aung, a villager of Donpaik.
 
“The man died on the spot and his body was taken to the village,” he added.
 
Cyclone Mocha, which made landfall in Arakan State with destructive force on May 14, destroyed about 250 homes, killing 13 people in Donpaik Village.
 

Locals are trying to rebuild their homes damaged by the cyclonic storm and they are worried about going to their farms because some people are killed by wild animals.
 
U Maung Hla Thein of Donpaik Village said that he was saddened that while the villagers were suffering from the effects of the storm, they were facing the danger of wild animals.
 
“We are repairing our homes damaged by the storm as much as we can. I feel that the lives of our villagers are worthless,” he added.
 
A total of 1,156,796 people were affected by the cyclone and accompanying flooding in Arakan State, with financial losses totaling nearly K4.7 billion and 148 deaths, the junta’s Arakan State Administration Council said on Friday.
 
Hundreds of thousands of surviving storm victims in Arakan State are currently in need of food, medicine, shelters and clean drinking water, and will need substantial assistance for recovery.