YANGON, Myanmar (AP): The U.S. was launching its first relief airlift Monday after prolonged negotiations with Myanmar's military rulers, accused of restricting international efforts to help up to 1.5 million cyclone survivors at risk of disease and starvation.

In what was seen as a huge concession by the junta, the United States finally got the go-ahead to send a C-130 cargo plane packed with supplies to Yangon on Monday, with two more air shipments scheduled to land Tuesday.

The death toll from the killer storm jumped to nearly 29,000 Sunday amid warnings that the military rulers, who have ruled the isolated nation with an iron fist for nearly four decades, were creating a ``humanitarian catastrophe of genuinely epic proportions.''

The junta has been sharply criticized for its handling of the May 3 disaster, from failing to provide adequate warnings about the pending storm to responding slowly to offers of help.

Though international assistance has started trickling in, the few foreign relief workers who have been allowed entry into Myanmar have been restricted to the largest city of Yangon. Only a handful have succeeded in getting past checkpoints into the worst-affected areas.

Myanmar's military rulers are especially suspicious of Washington, which has long been one of the junta's biggest critics, pointing to human rights abuses and its failure to hand over power to a democratically elected government.

``We hope that this is the beginning of a long line of assistance from the United States,'' White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe told reporters in Crawford, Texas over the weekend. ``They're going to need our help for a long time.''

Highlighting the many challenges ahead, however, a Red Cross boat carrying rice, drinking water and other goods for more than 1,000 people sank Sunday near hard-hit Bogalay town. All four aid workers on board were safe.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies could not say how much of the cargo has been lost, but it said the food supplies were contaminated by river water.

``Apart from the delay in getting aid to people we may now have to re-evaluate how we transport that aid,'' said Michael Annear, the IFRC's disaster manager in Yangon, who described the sinking as ``a big blow.''