Burma death toll rises

17/05/2008 09:57:09

Burma has updated the official death toll for the cyclone disaster to 78 thousand people.

State television says nearly 56 thousand people are missing.

Foreign aid agencies are frustrated at the slow progress of aid to areas worst hit, especially in the Irrawaddy Delta.

The United Nation's senior humanitarian affairs envoy, John Holmes, will travel to Burma tomorrow to try to get the country's military leaders to agree to a full-scale international relief effort.

Karen Percy reports.

"Two weeks after Cyclone Nargis left a path of destruction across southern Burma, humanitarian agencies say there is still a critical need for aid on the ground in the hard-hit Irrawaddy Delta region. As well they say the military junta must allow western aid workers to do what's needed, where it's needed. At present many foreign aid workers are stuck in the capital, Rangoon because the military only wants Burmese nationals, or non-westerners to work in the crucial areas. Aid workers from countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations are being welcomed. Thailand is despatching a group of more than 30 doctors today."

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