Washington - The top US diplomat in Myanmar said Wednesday that the death toll from the weekend cyclone that hit the southeast Asian country could reach 100,000.

Shari Villarosa, the charge d'affaires at the US embassy in Myanmar's largest city Yangon, told reporters in Washington via conference call that once the missing people are accounted for the number of dead could hit 100,000, according to CNN.

Villarosa said most of the deaths appear to have taken place in rural areas of Myanmar, which is also known as Burma, and warned that there was limited access to water supplies.

The United States has offered more than 3 million dollars in immediate relief assistance and has urged Myanmar's ruling military junta to open the country up to humanitarian organizations.

Myanmar authorities on Tuesday night raised the death toll from the disaster to about 22,500 with more than 41,000 people still listed as missing.

Humanitarian aid has begun trickling into the country, whose ruling generals have in the past been reluctant to grant access to international organizations. (dpa)