International Aid Workers Enter Myanmar Delta Area

International aid workers have started entering Myanmar's cyclone-devastated delta area.

According to the United Nations, about 1 and half million people in the Irrwaddy River delta are still waiting for aid.

Michael Gurtner is an official of the International Federation of the Red Cross.

"I am convinced that the aid we have been channelling through the Myanmar Red Cross has actually reached the beneficiaries that it was intended to reach. And this we can verify because we've had not only Myanmar Red Cross people on the ground but also our own international federation national staff members accompanying this effort."

Gurtner estimated that the Red Cross has reached 150,000 people on its own, and another 150,000 in concert with other humanitarian groups.

But he also stressed that massive amounts of foreign aid are needed to complement the supplies that have reached the country.

The Myanmar government agreed to allow foreign aid workers into the country after a meeting with U.N Secretary General Ban Ki-moon last week.

Official government estimates put the death toll from Cyclone Nargis at about 78,000, with an additional 56,000 people missing.