UN begs Burma to accept more help

Sick villagers on the outskirts of hard-hit Bogalay town, southern Burma

The UN has pleaded with Burma's secretive government to open its doors to foreign experts who could help up to two million cyclone victims facing disease and starvation.

The official death toll from Cyclone Nargis has risen by more than 3,000 to 31,938 with 29,770 missing.

But UN Assistant Secretary-General Catherine Bragg said it could be 62,000 to 100,000, "or possibly even higher than that."

"It's still a very serious situation," said a UN spokesman.

"There are up to two million people in urgent need of assistance. Assistance is getting through," but not fast enough, he said.

He said the four key requirements in a crisis like this - clean drinking water, shelter, medical support and food - were sorely lacking.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation said that rice prices in Rangoon have surged 50% since the cyclone, which struck as paddy farmers were harvesting the dry season crop that accounts for 20% of the annual production.

Although international assistance has started trickling in, the authoritarian government has barred most foreign experts who are experienced in managing humanitarian crises.

"The authorities of the country need to open up to an international relief effort. There aren't enough boats, trucks, helicopters in the country to run the relief effort of the scale we need," said the UN spokesman. "It's urgent that the authorities do open themselves up."

Meanwhile the first US aid plane was allowed into the country. The unarmed military C-130 cargo plane, packed with supplies, flew out of the Thai air force base of Utapao and landed in Rangoon, capping prolonged negotiations to persuade the government to accept US help.