Reports emerged yesterday of more than 80 killed in the latest bloodletting by Myanmar's military, as the country's own ambassador to the United Nations called for "strong action" against the junta. 

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in February, with protesters refusing to submit to the junta and demanding a return to democracy.

After over two months of military rule, efforts to verify deaths and confirm news of crackdowns have been greatly curtailed by the junta's throttling of mobile data within the country -- shunting most of the population into an information blackout. 

Details of a brutal crackdown in the city of Bago, 65 kilometres (40 miles) northeast of Yangon took a full day to emerge, as residents told AFP of continued violence from the junta which pushed them to flee to nearby villages. 

By yesterday evening, the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners -- a local monitoring group tracking deaths -- confirmed "over 80 anti-coup protesters were killed by security forces in Bago on Friday".

AFP-verified footage shot early Friday showed protesters hiding behind sandbag barricades wielding homemade rifles, as explosions could be heard in the background.

Authorities had refused to let rescue workers near the bodies, said a resident.  "They piled up all the dead bodies, loaded them into their army truck and drove it away," he told AFP.

State-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper on Saturday blamed the crackdown on "rioters", and reported only one dead.

The violence in Bago will add to AAPP's current death toll of 618 civilians killed since the coup.

The junta has a far lower number -- 248, according to a spokesman Friday -- and has branded the victims as "violent terrorist people".

The United States and European nations pleaded for action at a meeting on Friday of the UN Security Council where a Southeast Asian summit on the crisis was taking shape, but the military leadership remained defiant and refused entry to a UN special envoy.

Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun, who has passionately rejected the February 1 coup and brushed aside the military's claims that he no longer represents Myanmar, told the Security Council that there has been a "lack of adequate and strong action" despite hundreds of deaths, including children.

He pushed for more concrete action -- proposing a no-fly zone, an arms embargo and more targeted sanctions against members of the military and their families.

"Your collective, strong action is needed immediately," Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun told the meeting. "Time is of the essence for us," he said. "Please, please take action."

Despite the daily bloodshed, protesters have continued to take to the streets, with demonstrators manifesting their discontent in pointedly creative ways.

In commercial hub Yangon, crimson paint -- representing the blood already spilled -- was splashed across the streets in view of the historic Shwedagon Pagoda.

"Let us unite and boldly show in red that the dictatorial regime will not be allowed to rule us at all," a student activist announced on Facebook.

Flyers with the words "They will not rule us" were scattered across Yangon neighbourhoods.

In Mandalay, activists pasted the same flyers on the statue of General Aung San, the father of Suu Kyi and a national hero.

Suu Kyi is currently facing a series of charges from the junta -- including accusations of corruption and for having unregistered walkie-talkies.

State-run media announced Friday night that 19 people had been sentenced to death for robbery and murder under a military tribunal -- with 17 of them tried in absentia.

Human Rights Watch condemned the sentences yesterday as a way to sow fear in the anti-coup movement, as Norway's foreign minister called the use of capital punishment "unacceptable".