'4,000 killed' in Burma cyclone

Nearly 4,000 people have been killed and thousands are missing in two of Burma's devastated cyclone regions, state television reported, a dramatic increase in the toll from the weekend's storm.
"The confirmed number is 3,934 dead, 41 injured and 2,879 missing within the [Rangoon] and Irrawaddy divisions," MRTV reported as aid agencies said hundreds of thousands of people were without shelter and drinking water in the military-ruled South East Asian country.
Earlier official reports put the death toll at 351, but the number of casualties had been expected to rise as authorities made contact with hard-hit islands and villages in the Irrawaddy delta, the country's rice bowl.
Food and fuel prices have soared in Rangoon as aid agencies scrambled to deliver emergency supplies and assess the damage from Cyclone Nargis after it slammed into the delta region.
The military, which has ruled for 46 years and is shunned by the West, has not issued an appeal for help since the category three storm packing winds of 190 kilometres and hour.
In Rangoon, many roofs were ripped off even sturdy buildings, suggesting damage would be severe in the shanty towns that lie on the outskirts of the city of five million people.
Critical
Michael Annear, regional disaster chief for the International Red Cross, said emergency supplies were being handed out from stockpiles in Burma, but more was needed.
The UN office in Rangoon said there was an urgent need for plastic sheeting, water purification tablets, cooking equipment, mosquito nets, health kits and food.
It said the situation outside Rangoon was "critical, with shelter and safe water being the principal immediate needs".
Thailand has responded to the disaster, sending a C-130 transport plane loaded with nine tonnes of food and medicine to Rangoon after the airport reopened.
Clean water is scarce and most shops had sold out of candles and batteries, and there has been no word of when power will be restored.
Earlier, World Vision said it has sent emergency aid to Burma at the request of the military junta and CEO Reverend Tim Costello says the organisation will coordinate relief efforts with the UN and the Red Cross.

Type your summary here.