Over 15 000 die in cyclone

Yangon - More than 15 000 people died after a powerful cyclone swept across Myanmar last weekend, including 10 000 in a single town, the military government announced on Tuesday in state media.

The official New Light of Myanmar newspaper said the devastated town of Bogalay, in the heart of the Irrawaddy river delta where the storm swept ashore overnight on Friday, had suffered most of the losses.

The cyclone pounded the delta and then tore through Myanmar's main city of Yangon. The latest toll marked a 50% jump from the estimate given on state television late on Monday by Foreign Minister Nyan Win.

The storm devastated Myanmar's main rice-growing region, which is home to about 24 million people, or nearly half the country's population.

Rare appeal for foreign aid

The destruction prompted the military leadership to make a rare appeal for foreign aid, which the regime normally screens closely.

As aid agencies dispatched teams to find ways of delivering clean water, food and other supplies, US First Lady Laura Bush accused the regime of not doing enough to warn its people about the storm.

"Although they were aware of the threat, Burma's state-run media failed to issue a timely warning to citizens in the storm's path," she said at the White House, using the country's former name.

"The response to the cyclone is just the most recent example of the junta's failure to meet its people's basic needs," she said.

The United States has pushed hard for international sanctions against Myanmar, which is perhaps best known worldwide for keeping democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi in detention for much of the past two decades.

The United Nations and governments around the globe pledged millions of dollars in assistance as the death toll climbed and Foreign Minister Nyan Win called for foreign assistance.

"We will welcome help," the minister said. "Our people are in difficulty."

Thousands still missing

Hundreds of thousands of people were believed to be homeless in southwestern Myanmar, including in the main city and former capital Yangon.

Thousands more are believed missing in other parts of the Irrawaddy river delta, which bore the brunt of the storm.

Packing winds of 190km per hour, Nargis ripped through the countryside, destroying entire villages, downing power lines and uprooting trees that blocked key roads in an area where transport is already difficult.