RANGOON, Burma - Burma announced Tuesday that 84,500 people perished in last month's cyclone.
That is up from its earlier toll of 77,700. And Deputy Foreign Minister Kyaw Thu told reporters 53,836 are still missing.
Cyclone Nargis on May 2-3 cut a swath of destruction through the Irrawaddy river delta and the region around the country's largest city, Rangoon. A major international effort is under way to aid some 2.4 million survivors of the natural disaster, the worst in Burma's modern history.
Tuesday's update was the first since May 17. Foreign aid staffers, initially barred from the delta region, have not yet produced their own estimates of the dead and missing, some citing lack of access, personnel and the difficulty of travelling to many remote areas.
After an international outcry over the ruling junta's sluggish response to the disaster, the government later promised visiting U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon to open the delta area to foreign aid workers.
The latest United Nations report said Tuesday that to date 1.3 million people are estimated to have been reached by international aid groups, the Red Cross and U.N. workers.
A three-party "core group" has been traveling through the delta to assess damage and humanitarian needs.
The group includes representatives of the United Nations, the Burma government and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the regional bloc which includes Burma.
A progress report was to be released in Rangoon Tuesday while the final document will be issued July 18.
