Aid call as Burma casualties rise
Written: 6th May, 2008
International agencies are pushing to gain access for a massive aid operation in Burma, where the toll from Saturday's cyclone continues to rise.
Up to 15,000 people are said to have died in the disaster, and many more are missing, officials say.
Hundreds of thousands of people are said to be without clean water and shelter, with some areas still cut-off.
Burma's leaders say they will accept external help, in a move correspondents say reflects the scale of the disaster.
The country's military junta has said it will postpone to 24 May a referendum on a new constitution in areas worst-hit by the cyclone, the capital, Rangoon, and the Irrawaddy delta, state television said on Tuesday.
But the vote initially planned for 10 May will proceed as planned in the rest of the country, the report said.