At least 53 dead in southern Myanmar landslide

At least 53 people were killed by a landslide that struck a village in Myanmar's southern Mon state on August 9, the Myanmar Fire Services Department announced on Sunday.
The landslide, triggered by torrential rainfall the previous night, swept away dozens of homes in the village of The Phyu Gon, located at the foot of a mountain in Mon state's Paung township.
Hundreds of rescue workers pulled bodies from the muddy rubble throughout the weekend, and rescue efforts will continue through the coming week. On Saturday, Myanmar Vice President Henry Van Thio visited the village to deliver cash assistance to the victims' families.  "Efforts will be made toward preventing the recurrence of such disasters, people will be informed and preventive exercises will be conducted regularly," he told the families.
The vice president also visited other towns and villages across Mon state, where more than 4,000 homes have been flooded. He also visited monasteries that are serving as makeshift relocation camps for an estimated 25,000 people displaced by the floods.
Highways and railroads between Mon state and Yangon, Myanmar's main city, were closed over the weekend because of the floods. The military have announced plans to deliver emergency supplies by helicopter.
A list compiled by climate scientists in 2015 ranked Myanmar as the country hardest hit by extreme weather events. That year, over 100 people were killed by floods across the country, and people have been killed and displaced by floods and landslides every year since.