Myanmar junta suspends aid access to a million people in state devastated by Cyclone Mocha

Myanmar's ruling junta has suspended humanitarian access to western Rakhine state, where more than a million vulnerable people are in urgent need of aid a month after a powerful cyclone devastated the region, the United Nations said.

Myanmar's ruling junta has suspended humanitarian access to western Rakhine state, where more than a million vulnerable people are in urgent need of aid a month after a powerful cyclone devastated the region, the United Nations said.

The UN's humanitarian office (OCHA) said the decision to stop aid access in the already-impoverished state has paralyzed the humanitarian response to Cyclone Mocha and crippled life-saving aid distributions to storm-hit communities.

"Four weeks into this disaster response and with the monsoon season well underway, it is unfathomable that humanitarians are being denied access to support people in need," UN Resident and Humanitarian Co-ordinator Ramanathan Balakrishnan said in a statement Monday.

Balakrishnan said it was "yet another devastating setback for more than a million people" in need of assistance.

"Just when vulnerable communities need our help the most, we have been forced to stop distributions of food, drinking water, and shelter supplies," he added.

Cyclone Mocha slammed into western Myanmar on May 14 as one of the strongest storms ever to hit the country. Coastal areas in Rakhine bore the brunt of the cyclone's winds, which tore over the state at over 200 kilometres per hour (195 mph), destroying homes, livelihoods and infrastructure.

The storm flooded farmlands, killing livestock and contaminating drinking water in one of Asia's most impoverished regions. The winds collapsed bridges, destroyed boats, blocked roads, cut communication lines, and damaged schools and hospitals.