Nearly two weeks after the devastating Cyclone Nargis hit the Irrawaddy Delta and the country’s main city, Yangon, Myanmar almost doubled the death toll to 78,000.

The estimated number of missing has been raised to 55,917 and the number of people injured in the huge tempest has reached 19,359, up from 1,403.

However, the death toll differs depending on who is making the estimations. The United Nations said that approximately 100,000 were killed in the devastating cyclone, while according to the estimations made by the Red Cross on Wednesday, the death toll could be as high as 128,000.

The U.N. also estimated that nearly 1.6 million to 2.5 million survivors need urgent help consisting in food, water, shelter and medicine.

Although the estimated death toll has increased with the passing of each day since the cyclone struck mainland, Myanmar’s state radio gave no reason for the sudden spike in the number from Wednesday (38,491) to Thursday (43,318).

Myanmar’s military junta is still refusing to collaborate on the scale needed to avoid further mass deaths. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned the Burmese authorities that the refusal of more foreign aid could increase the death toll dramatically.

The French U.N. Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert went farther and said that Myanmar’s rulers’ refusal to allow aid to be delivered to people in need or in danger "could lead to a true crime against humanity."