Relief officials say it is difficult to tell whether the death toll from last week's Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami are higher in Burma than the nation's military government has admitted.
News reports say a team from the Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders is expected to tour islands in southern Burma this week. The Burmese military government has said only 53 people died in the giant wave, but experts say the real toll could be much higher, since neighbors Indonesia and Thailand each lost thousands of people.
Burmese state media says 17 villages were destroyed by the tsunami. Relief workers estimate at least 10-thousand Burmese need food aid because of the disaster.
