UN tells Burma: accept more aid

Last Modified: 22 May 2008
By: Channel 4 News

During a visit to Burma in the wake of cyclone Nargis, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon tells the country it should accept more aid. Inigo Gilmore reports.

His message to Burma's military leaders was simple: it is time you accepted more aid for cyclone victims.

During a visit to Burma, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was finally shown some of the devastation caused by cyclone Nargis.

But three weeks after the storm, the regime is still blocking large-scale international assistance.

The death toll now stands at 78,000, with another 56,000 missing. Hundreds of thousands of people have lost their homes. Today Save the Children warned that 30,000 children could die by the first week of June unless they are rescued.

The UN Secretary general visited Burma's main city, Rangoon, where he met victims of the cyclone and then toured the devastated Irrawaddy delta region by helicopter.

The accompanying report is by Inigo Gilmore