Burma aid 'nowhere near enough'

Experts are warning that aid entering Burma is vastly inadequate for the scale of the disaster, although access to the cyclone-hit nation has improved.

A US flight is due in Rangoon on Monday, as are some other aid flights.

But help has reached less than a third of those who need it, experts say, and getting supplies to the worst-hit areas is a huge logistical challenge.

On Sunday, Burmese TV said the death toll had risen to 28,458, while 33,416 were still missing after the cyclone.

Aid agencies, however, estimate that 100,000 have died and warn that this figure could rise to 1.5 million without provision of clean water and sanitation.

"A natural disaster is turning into a humanitarian catastrophe of genuinely epic proportions in significant part because of what I would describe as the malign neglect of the regime"
David Miliband,
UK foreign minister

In the US, meanwhile, two senior campaigners for Republican presidential candidate John McCain have resigned over links with Burma's military government.

One runs a lobbying firm that was being paid to improve the image of the Burmese authorities, the other works for him.

Dehydrated

Nine days after Cyclone Nargis struck Burma's low-lying Irrawaddy Delta region, survivors are beginning to gather in makeshift camps around the edges of the disaster zone.

The UN, which has launched a $187m (£96m) appeal for aid, says people urgently need food, water, shelter and medical aid.

Many are said to be dehydrated or suffering from injuries that have not been treated.

Fresh video footage has emerged that shows the extent of the suffering, including the corpses of children lined up in a makeshift morgue.

There are some signs that Burma's military leaders may be relaxing their stance on accepting foreign aid.

In an apparent concession, the US has received permission to send in a C-130 cargo plane packed with relief supplies to Burma's main city, Rangoon.

It is due to arrive there later in the day, as are three planes from medical relief agency Medecins Sans Frontieres.

A number of other flights arrived in the country over the weekend and some supplies were trucked across the border.

But many foreign experts are still waiting for visas to enter the country and on Sunday, the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) said that the amount of aid getting to victims was "nowhere near the scale required".

UK Foreign Minister David Miliband said the Burmese government's reluctance to open its doors was making the tragedy worse.

"A natural disaster is turning into a humanitarian catastrophe of genuinely epic proportions in significant part because of what I would describe as the malign neglect of the regime," he told the BBC.

'Big blow'

Aid agencies are also warning of serious logistical hurdles getting supplies to affected areas.

EXTENT OF THE DEVASTATION

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Roads and bridges have been washed away, and heavy rain is forecast for the coming week, further complicating relief efforts.

On Sunday, a Red Cross boat carrying rice and drinking water for 1,000 people in Bogalay town hit a submerged tree and sank.

Michael Annear, the IFRC's disaster manager in Rangoon, described the sinking as "a big blow".

"Apart from the delay in getting aid to people we may now have to re-evaluate how we transport that aid," he said.

The European Union is to hold an emergency meeting on getting aid to Burma on Tuesday.

Officials would "try to identify and co-ordinate the best means of facilitating the mobilisation and delivery of international humanitarian assistance," said Louis Michel, EU commissioner for humanitarian aid.

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