Burmese officials released new numbers Tuesday that increased the death toll from last month's devastating cyclone to 84,500, in addition to almost 54,000 still missing.

Cyclone Nargis lashed Burma, also known as Myanmar, on May 2 and 3, cutting large swaths in the Irrawaddy River Delta and the area around Rangoon, the country's largest city.

The latest figures raise the official death toll by 6,800 from 77,700.

Aid agencies are still struggling to help an estimated 2.4 million people affected by the vicious storm, the worst in the country's recent history.

Foreign workers were initially barred from the delta region by the isolationist military regime. Citing lack of access and difficulty travelling to many remote areas, foreign officials have yet to produce their own estimates of the dead and missing.

Earlier estimates by foreign officials suggested the death toll could surge past 100,000.

With files from the Associated Press