First British aid is flown to Burma

Evening Chronicle (Newcastle, England), May 13, 2008

THE first planeload of British aid was being flown to cyclone-ravaged Burma today.

A consignment of bales of plastic sheeting was sent, the first of four such flights as part of a pounds 5m aid package.

Supplies were trickling into the country yesterday amid renewed pressure on the ruling junta to lift its blockade on international help getting into the country.

It has emerged that the Queen has made a "significant" personal donation to the relief effort.

Up to 5,000 square kilometres of Burma is still under water following the devastating Cyclone Nargis which struck more than a week ago.

An estimated 100,000 people have already died and aid agency Oxfam has warned this figure could multiply 15-fold, with further torrential rain on the way.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has criticised Burma's military junta for its unacceptably slow response to helping the victims.

"Unless more aid gets into the country very quickly we face an outbreak of infectious diseases that could dwarf today's crisis," he warned.

And attention is now focused on preventing sickness spreading among the millions of displaced survivors, although aid agencies continue to report difficulty obtaining visas for trained emergency response workers.

CAPTION(S):

TRICKLING IN: Burmese soldiers unload supplies for cyclone victims