UN says vital aid is still not reaching victims in Burma

VITAL aid supplies are still not getting through to victims of the Burmese cyclone, the United Nations warned today, as the country's military junta agreed to accept more foreign help.

The UN said less than a quarter of the victims' needs are being met, ten days after the storm left its trail of devastation.

Logistical bottlenecks, poor infrastructure and restrictions imposed by Burma's isolationist generals are delaying the desperately needed aid for some two million severely affected survivors.

The Burmese government says about 62,000 people are dead or missing but the UN has suggested the death toll is likely to be more than 100,000.

While the survivors – mostly poor peasants who grew rice for their livelihood – face disease and starvation, the authoritarian junta continued to bar nearly all foreigners experienced in managing such catastrophes.

Thousands of children are orphaned, and are suffering from fever, diarrhoea and respiratory infections.

Richard Horsey, a spokesman for the UN humanitarian operation, said: "There is obviously still a lot of frustration that this aid effort hasn't picked up pace."