5,000 sq km of Myanmar still underwater: UN

About 5,000 square kilometres of Myanmar's cyclone-hit regions remain underwater, with more than a million people in need of emergency relief, a UN spokesman said.

About 5,000 square kilometres (1,930 square miles) of Myanmar's cyclone-hit regions remain underwater, with more than a million people in need of emergency relief, a UN spokesman said on Thursday.

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"We're talking about 5,000 square kilometres under water," said Richard Horsey, a Bangkok-based spokesman with the United Nation's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

"The bottle neck (in aid) is getting it out in the delta. That needs boats, helicopters, trucks .... there are upward of one million people in need of help," he added.