Downpours deepen misery

Torrential tropical downpours lashed Myanmar's cyclone-hit Irrawaddy delta on Friday, as some survivors took to roadsides to beg for help to supplement the trickle of aid flowing to the destitute.

In the storm-struck town of Kunyangon, around 100 km southwest of Yangon, thousands of men, women and children stood in mud and rain, their hands clasped together in supplication at the occasional passing aid vehicle.

An estimated 2.5 million people were severely affected when Cyclone Nargis inundated an area of the delta the size of Austria, destroying homes and crops.