The cyclone slammed into coastal towns and villages in the rice-growing Irrawaddy delta southwest of Yangon last Saturday, the most devastating storm to hit Asia since 1991, when 143,000 people were killed in neighboring Bangladesh.

Aid has been trickling in from other Asian nations, although governments and relief agencies are putting increasing pressure on Myanmar to throw their borders wide open to as much help as possible.

Thailand, Japan, India, China, Singapore and Indonesia were all flying in assistance.