Myanmar Cyclone Death Toll Nears 80,000

State television reports the official death toll from Myanmar's devastating cyclone earlier this month has climbed to 77,738.

The figure was broadcast Friday night. It was nearly double the figure released a day earlier by the military government.

The official count for the missing also soared to 55,917 - from a figure of 27,838 that had been announced for the past few days.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies estimated Wednesday that the total death toll may be as many as 128,000. The U.N. has said more than 100,000 may have died.

The U.N. and the Red Cross say 1.6 million to 2.5 million people are in urgent need of food, water and shelter.

John Holmes, U.N. undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, will go to Myanmar on Sunday to try to convince junta leaders to grant more access for U.N. relief workers and massively scale up aid efforts, said Amanda Pitt, a U.N. spokeswoman in Bangkok, Thailand.

Officials of various U.N. agencies called a news conference in Bangkok to give an update on their relief operations. The most basic data was missing, from the number of orphans to the extent of diseases and the number of refugee camps.

They also couldn't say whether all survivors are in camps, on the move or still living in destroyed villages in the hardest-hit Irrawaddy delta, an area the size of Austria. Cyclone Nargis also pounded Yangon, Myanmar's main city.

"The risk increases with each passing day," Pitt said, referring to the vulnerability of survivors to outbreaks of disease and other problems.

The government said at least 43,318 people were killed and nearly 28,000 went missing when the May 2-3 cyclone turned the low-lying delta into a quagmire of shattered villages and squalid refugee camps ringed by fetid waters.

The Red Cross fears the toll may be as high as 128,000; the U.N. estimates more than 100,000 died.

In the absence of a clear picture, the U.N. estimates some 1.5 million to 2.5 million survivors are in desperate need of food, water, shelter and medical care. Aid groups have reached only 270,000 so far.

Meanwhile, a top U.S. envoy said Friday that Myanmar's military regime would take foreign diplomats on a tour of the Irrawaddy delta.

Shari Villarosa told The Associated Press that the Foreign Ministry is taking a group of diplomats into the delta on Saturday. Villarosa is the charge d'affaires of the U.S. Embassy.

It is not clear how much access the diplomats will have outside the controlled tour. Still, it will be the first time diplomats will be seeing first hand the effects of the cyclone as well as the highly criticized relief delivery effort by the government.

The junta has barred foreign aid experts from going to the delta.

The WHO said the first cases of cholera were recorded but could not provide any details. However, WHO's Thailand chief Maureen Birmingham said cholera typically occurs in the delta this time of the year.

The junta insists Myanmar nationals and government agencies, including the military, can handle relief operations, particularly aid distribution.

"We still have obstacles to relief workers getting to the delta region, which doesn't help," Pitt said. "We are concerned about the effects on the people. It is clear, from what everyone is saying, the aid effort is far from over."

The United Nations says the regime has issued 40 visas to its staffers and another 46 to nongovernment agencies but has confined the personnel to the immediate Yangon area.

Marshall, the U.N. official, laid out the hurdles that aid agencies face.

He said the military has set up checkpoints on the two main roads to the delta to keep foreigners out of the disaster zone. Even local staff have to negotiate with the military to gain access to the camps.

"Things will still get done, but they will not be done as effectively, efficiently or as quickly, which means delays, which means increasing risk in terms of health, security and in terms of longer-term rehabilitation and getting back to a normal lifestyle," he said.

The U.N. Children's Fund, or UNICEF said Friday the agency's fourth flight into Myanmar, scheduled for Saturday, would deliver several tons of food for malnourished children. Radio broadcasts are trying to help lost children find their families, it said.

"At the moment, it is a diffult to know how many children have been seperated or unaccompanied. We still have no indication of how many orphans there may be," said Shantha Bloemen, a UNICEF spokeswoman.

Also scheduled to arrive this weekend are two of 10 tons of medicine and medical equipment from Israel and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, said agency executive Amos Avgar.

In the absence of an organized relief effort by the government, ordinary people are stepping in, with shopkeepers handing out free rice porridge and medical students caring for the sick.

Daw Mya Win, a 49-year-old grocer in a Yangon suburb, cooks rice porridge every day to feed anyone who comes. She also sends pots of it to some of the thousands of homeless sheltering in Buddhist monasteries.

College students are going door-to-door, handing out a few pennies to families for rice.

"Whenever we distribute rice and clothing, I can see the faces of the cyclone victims light up. It is very rewarding to see them smile," said Nyi Nyi, 21.