Burma's state media said last weekend's cyclone killed some 10,000 people in one town alone, raising fears of a big rise in the overall death toll today, as the international community prepared to rush aid to the nation.

A BURMA state radio station yesterday said close to 4,000 people were killed and nearly 3,000 others are unaccounted for in a single town after the devastating Tropical Cyclone Nargis swept through.