WASHINGTON, May 14 (Reuters) - The World Food Program has managed to deliver aid to about 28,000 people in cyclone-hit Myanmar but insufficient access is hindering relief efforts, the head of the U.N. agency told a U.S. Senate panel on Wednesday. "A critical issue now is access. WFP has managed to reach more than 28,000 people with food aid so far, with 14 international and 214 national staff in-country," WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran said. "Our flights are allowed to bring in some supplies, but far from enough -- a massive effort is needed to save lives, such as was launched after the tsunami in Asia or the earthquake in Pakistan," Sheeran said in prepared testimony at a U.S. Senate hearing on the global food crisis. Sheeran said the agency had launched a six-month, $70-million initiative to feed 750,000 people there, in addition to logistics and communications work worth $50 million. With Myanmar's military government seeking to block an influx of foreign aid workers or equipment, foreign assistance is only trickling into the country. An estimated 1.5 million people are believed to be facing hunger and disease following the devastating Cyclone Nargis, which is feared to have killed as many as 100,000. (Reporting by Missy Ryan, editing by David Alexander)
Residents search for their family at a collapsed building after an earthquake in Dujiangyan, Sichuan province May 13, 2008. China said on Tuesday an earthquake centred in the southwest province of ...
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