A British based charity says young children may already be dying of starvation in Burma's Irrawaddy delta, which was hit by Cyclone Nargis two weeks ago.

The chief executive of Save the Children says the failure to get sufficient aid to those in need has weakened the children most with some dying and others with just days to live.

The charity claims that even before the cyclone, it had identified around 30-thousand children in the Irrawady region under the age of five suffering from malnutrition.

The Burmese authorities say a total of 80-thousand people have died so far but the UN and the International Red Cross believe the actual number is much higher.

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