Aid arriving in cyclone-hit Burma

The bodies of dead people and animals litter the flooded fields Foreign aid is beginning to arrive in Burma, devastated by a cyclone that has left more than 22,000 people dead. Neighbouring countries and the UN have dispatched planes carrying supplies - amid complaints that ruling generals are hampering the foreign aid effort. The UN has urged the authorities to let foreign aid workers into Burma. A vast swathe of the southern Irrawaddy delta remains under water. A US envoy in Burma told reporters the death toll could reach 100,000. Reports from the area - which bore the full force of the cyclone - speak of traumatised survivors emerging from floodwaters littered with bodies. Survivors are hungry, thirsty and vulnerable to disease - but given the vast area affected, and blocked roads, the challenge for aid workers is enormous, say reports. Advertisement Footage of the aid operation in Burma from state-run TV 'Right direction' In a statement, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged authorities in Burma - also known as Myanmar - to allow foreign aid workers and supplies into the country. Forget politics. Forget the military dictatorship. Let's just get aid and assistance through Australian PM Kevin Rudd Keeping a lid on chaos Speaking to reporters, the UN's humanitarian chief John Holmes said the crisis was a "major catastrophe" and said aid had started to arrive. He said that 24 countries had pledged assistance so far worth $30m (£15m), and a flash appeal would be launched on Friday once an initial assessment of need was complete. An assessment team was due in Burma on Thursday. Mr Holmes said that aid agencies had faced difficulties accessing the disaster zone, adding that the rapid issuing of visas and customs clearance would be helpful. But he dismissed a suggestion by the French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner that the UN Security Council should adopt a resolution allowing aid to be flown into the country by force as unnecessarily confrontational. Co-operation from the Burmese authorities was, he said, "reasonable and heading in the right direction". The BBC's Paul Danahar, in Burma, says this is the biggest challenge to the generals since the height of the pro-democracy movement in 1989. But under pressure, they have begun to open the door to supplies, and now to foreign aid workers: The UN says a plane loaded with 25 tonnes of supplies and a small team of rescue staff will arrive in Burma within days The UN's World Food Programme has dispatched an additional four planes loaded with supplies including high-energy biscuits Chinese media say a plane carrying 60 tonnes of aid has landed in the biggest city, Rangoon Planes from Thailand, India and Indonesia are also being dispatched The WFP has already begun to distribute existing food aid stocks in and around Rangoon, and the Red Cross has a handful of expatriate and many local staff on the ground. But Burma has refused to waive visa requirements for many waiting aid workers. They have also so far failed to respond to a US offer to divert three naval ships exercising in the Gulf of Thailand to the aid operation, the US says. Before and after: extent of flooding clear in Nasa satellite images Enlarge Image The National League for Democracy (NLD) - the party of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi - has urged the junta to accept international aid in a statement. The Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd urged the junta to "forget politics". The Burmese junta has also attracted criticism for its decision to plough ahead with a referendum on a proposed constitution on Saturday, with the possible exception of the worst-hit regions. Homeless Burmese state media reported on Tuesday that 22,464 people had now been confirmed dead and another 41,054 people were missing as a result of Cyclone Nargis, which saw swathes of Burma hit by high winds and a tidal surge. Up to a million people are thought to have been left homeless in the crisis, which has left thousands of square kilometres of the Irrawaddy delta under water. EXTENT OF THE DEVASTATION Haggard refugees are said to be gathering in wrecked towns in the area, including Labutta. In Bogalay, the bodies of people killed by the storm "drifted into the sea with the tide, and are now resurfacing on the shore," a survivor who has been travelling in the region told the BBC's Burmese service. "The storm was followed by tidal waves and ships are marooned. You can see the boats near the main market. Ninety percent of Bogalay town is destroyed." Rotting bodies were also floating in Hlaing river, in a slightly less affected area east of Rangoon, the survivor said. Survivors face poor sanitation and a lack of access to clean water. Flooding could lead to outbreaks of mosquito-borne malaria and dengue fever, while water-borne diseases such as cholera and dysentery are also a threat.