| 9 weeks 5 days 11 hours ago Cyclone death toll nears 78,000
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(NECN: Myanmar) - The United Nations said on Friday that severe restrictions by Myanmar's military junta have left aid agencies largely in the dark about the extent of survivors' suffering, two weeks after a killer cyclone left up to 2.5 million people destitute.
The cyclone's official death toll has nearly doubled to almost 78,000 and another 56,000 people remain missing after the devastating storm, state television reported Friday.
UN undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs will go to Myanmar on Sunday to try to convince junta leaders to grant more access for UN relief workers
and massively scale up aid efforts, said a UN spokeswoman in Bangkok, Thailand.
Meanwhile, international aid for cyclone victims continued arriving to Myanmar on Thursday.
Myanmar TV showed aid from the Christian Association in Thailand, the US, and from the Red Cross Society in the United Arab Emirates being unloaded at the
airport.
TV footage also showed Myanmar's Prime Minister, Lieutenant General Thein Sein visiting relief camps and talking to evacuees.
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