U.S. aid flight takes off for Burma

The first U.S. aid flight to Burma following the devastating cyclone nine days ago has taken off from an air base in neighbouring Thailand. Permission for the aircraft to land in Rangoon was granted after a week of talks with Burma's military rulers. U.S. aid flight takes off for Burma Experts have warned that aid entering the country is vastly inadequate for the scale of the disaster. They say help has reached less than one third of those in need - and say many thousands of people are still missing. On Sunday, Burmese TV said the death toll had risen to 28,458, while 33,416 were missing. Aid agencies, however, estimate that 100,000 have died and warn that this figure could rise to 1.5 million without provision of clean water and sanitation. Nine days after Cyclone Nargis struck Burma's low-lying Irrawaddy Delta region, survivors are beginning to gather in makeshift camps around the edges of the disaster zone. The UN, which has launched a USD187mn appeal for aid, says people urgently need food, water, shelter and medical aid. Many are said to be dehydrated or suffering from injuries that have not been treated. Fresh video footage has emerged that shows the extent of the suffering, including the corpses of children lined up in a makeshift morgue. There are some signs that Burma's military leaders may be relaxing their stance on accepting foreign aid. In addition to the U.S. plane, three aircraft from medical relief agency Medecins Sans Frontieres are due in the country later today. A number of other flights arrived in the country over the weekend and some supplies were trucked across the border. But many foreign experts are still waiting for visas to enter the country and on Sunday, the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) said that the amount of aid getting to victims was "nowhere near the scale required. As the U.S. aircraft was loaded at Utapao airbase in Thailand, a spokesman for the operation said that the U.S. was ready to provide more help. "Today's flight is just the first step and we hope they will allow us to do more in the future," said Lt Col Douglas Powell. "It's really just up to what the Burmese will allow us to do." UK Foreign Minister David Miliband said the Burmese government's reluctance to open its doors was making the tragedy worse. "A natural disaster is turning into a humanitarian catastrophe of genuinely epic proportions, in significant part because of what I would describe as the malign neglect of the regime," he told the BBC. "Big blow" Aid agencies are also warning of serious logistical hurdles getting supplies to affected areas. Roads and bridges have been washed away, and heavy rain is forecast for the coming week, further complicating relief efforts. On Sunday, a Red Cross boat carrying rice and drinking water for 1,000 people in Bogalay town hit a submerged tree and sank. Michael Annear, the IFRC's disaster manager in Rangoon, described the sinking as "a big blow". "Apart from the delay in getting aid to people we may now have to re-evaluate how we transport that aid," he said. The European Union is to hold an emergency meeting on getting aid to Burma on Tuesday. Officials would "try to identify and co-ordinate the best means of facilitating the mobilisation and delivery of international humanitarian assistance," said Louis Michel, EU commissioner for humanitarian aid.

U.S. aid flight takes off for Burma

Experts have warned that aid entering the country is vastly inadequate for the scale of the disaster.

They say help has reached less than one third of those in need - and say many thousands of people are still missing.

On Sunday, Burmese TV said the death toll had risen to 28,458, while 33,416 were missing.

Aid agencies, however, estimate that 100,000 have died and warn that this figure could rise to 1.5 million without provision of clean water and sanitation.

Nine days after Cyclone Nargis struck Burma's low-lying Irrawaddy Delta region, survivors are beginning to gather in makeshift camps around the edges of the disaster zone.

The UN, which has launched a USD187mn appeal for aid, says people urgently need food, water, shelter and medical aid.

Many are said to be dehydrated or suffering from injuries that have not been treated.

Fresh video footage has emerged that shows the extent of the suffering, including the corpses of children lined up in a makeshift morgue.

There are some signs that Burma's military leaders may be relaxing their stance on accepting foreign aid.

In addition to the U.S. plane, three aircraft from medical relief agency Medecins Sans Frontieres are due in the country later today.

A number of other flights arrived in the country over the weekend and some supplies were trucked across the border.

But many foreign experts are still waiting for visas to enter the country and on Sunday, the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) said that the amount of aid getting to victims was "nowhere near the scale required.

As the U.S. aircraft was loaded at Utapao airbase in Thailand, a spokesman for the operation said that the U.S. was ready to provide more help.

"Today's flight is just the first step and we hope they will allow us to do more in the future," said Lt Col Douglas Powell. "It's really just up to what the Burmese will allow us to do."

UK Foreign Minister David Miliband said the Burmese government's reluctance to open its doors was making the tragedy worse.

"A natural disaster is turning into a humanitarian catastrophe of genuinely epic proportions, in significant part because of what I would describe as the malign neglect of the regime," he told the BBC.

"Big blow"

Aid agencies are also warning of serious logistical hurdles getting supplies to affected areas.

Roads and bridges have been washed away, and heavy rain is forecast for the coming week, further complicating relief efforts.

On Sunday, a Red Cross boat carrying rice and drinking water for 1,000 people in Bogalay town hit a submerged tree and sank.

Michael Annear, the IFRC's disaster manager in Rangoon, described the sinking as "a big blow".

"Apart from the delay in getting aid to people we may now have to re-evaluate how we transport that aid," he said.

The European Union is to hold an emergency meeting on getting aid to Burma on Tuesday.

Officials would "try to identify and co-ordinate the best means of facilitating the mobilisation and delivery of international humanitarian assistance," said Louis Michel, EU commissioner for humanitarian aid.