BAGO, Aug 12 (AFP)- Hundreds of evacuated flood victims lined up for food at a monastery in Myanmar on Saturday (Aug 12), all waiting for water levels to recede before they can return home.

Flood and landslides caused by monsoon rain have killed five and forced around 48,000 people to flee their homes, the relief ministry said.

On Saturday in Bago city, northeast of Yangon, children floated on rubber tyres squealing with joy, while adults paddled wooden canoes with supplies through the murky brown and yellow water to evacuation shelters.

Hundreds of families sat fanning themselves in an open-air hall at a monastery as volunteers distributed meal packs of rice and egg curry.
Parents and children curled up on mats surrounded by bags of their meagre possessions - clothes strung up on makeshift washing lines above.

Meanwhile, Myanmar Red Cross volunteers are busy evacuating families, distributing food and providing health care in flood-hit Karen state, the international organisation said on Twitter, which has been re-branded X.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since a February 2021 military coup that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi's civilian government and plunged the nation into a bloody conflict between the junta and opponents of their rule.

According to a local monitoring group, more than 3,900 people have been killed since the coup, a figure the junta puts at 5,000.

The United Nations slammed the junta's handling of the aftermath of Cyclone Mocha in May, which killed at least 148 people and destroyed homes.

It condemned authorities' refusal to allow international aid workers to access the region, prompting state media to accuse the world body of "arrogance, ignorance and self-interest".