Reports have emerged that foreign aid was being sold openly in markets and that the military was pilfering and diverting aid for its own use. New York-based Human Rights Watch said Wednesday the military had seized high-energy biscuits that came from abroad and distributed low-quality, locally produced biscuits to survivors.

State radio obliquely denied the military was misappropriating aid.

“The government has systematically accepted donations and has distributed the relief goods immediately and directly to the victims,” it said. “Effective legal action will be taken against those who hoard, sell or buy, use or misuse the international or local donations or relief goods or cash to the cyclone victims.”

State television reported that the official death toll from Myanmar’s devastating May 3 cyclone has climbed to 43,318.

The figure was broadcast Thursday night and was almost 5,000 more than the number released Wednesday by the military government. The number of missing has remained at 27,838 for at least two days.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies estimated Wednesday that the total death toll may be between 68,833 and 127,990. The U.N. has said more than 100,000 may have died.

The U.N. and the Red Cross say 1.6 million to 2.5 million people are in urgent need of food, water and shelter. Only 270,000 have been reached so far by aid groups.

Tons of foreign aid — including water, blankets, mosquito nets, tarpaulins, medicines and tents — have been sent to Myanmar, but delivery has been slowed by bottlenecks, poor infrastructure and bureaucratic tangles.

The junta insists on taking control of the distribution, asserting it can handle the disaster on its own — a stance that appears to stem not from its abilities but its deep suspicion of most foreigners, who have frequently criticized its human rights abuses and crackdown on democracy activists.

It has allowed the U.N. and some other agencies to hand out the aid directly but barred the few foreign staff allowed into Myanmar from leaving Yangon, the country’s main city.

In a clear sign that politics is playing a role, the junta granted approval to 160 relief workers from India, China, Bangladesh and Thailand, which have rarely criticized Myanmar’s democracy record.

Police have turned back foreigners from checkpoints at the city’s exits.

“There is a visible fence around Yangon that we don’t dare cross. A circle has been drawn around Yangon and expats are confined there,” said Tim Costello of aid group World Vision.

He said the group has delivered aid to 100,000 people in spite of the “narrow parameters.” But there are tens of thousands more who haven’t received help due to heavy rain and lack of helicopters and expert staff.

“While you are getting aid through, it’s like getting it through on a 3-inch pipe not 30-inch pipe,” Costello said.

As a result, ordinary citizens — businessmen, housewives, monks, Christian priests and students — have rushed to provide help.

But even they are being restricted by the security forces, said Zaw Htin, a 21-year-old medical student who visited hard-hit Bogaley town Wednesday.

“They (the military) don’t want us to stay and talk to people. They want us to leave the supplies with them for distribution. But how can I treat them if I can’t talk to them? How do we administer medical care if we can’t touch them, feel their pulse or give them advice?” she said.

“It was overwhelming even for us who have seen a lot of suffering and death,” Zaw Htin said.

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