The official death toll stood at around 11,000 after the deadly storms battered Central America last October.

But since then, the governments of the two worst hit countries, Nicaragua and Honduras, have both reduced their figures.

Around 1.5 million were left homeless in the region

In Honduras a new commission has begun visiting the provinces to try to set the record straight.

Interior Minister Delmer Urbizo said: "We do not want to use the pain and death caused by Mitch in Honduras to obtain international aid.''

But he added: "The death toll is only part of the tragedy ... The fundamental thing is that Honduras was completely destroyed. ''

Earlier this week, the government reduced its casualty figure by more than 1,000 to 5,657.

But it said more than 8,000 people were still missing following the floods which left 12,272 injured and 1.4 million homeless.

Nicaraguan officials also admitted their estimate of 3,800 dead was too high, bringing the final count down to 3,045.

The debate over the death toll intensified this week after Honduras suspended a regional governor for allegedly increasing the local death toll five-fold.

However, Lucila Barahona says she sent in the correct figure, but the interior ministry confused the picture by adding on the number of homeless.

Donations at risk

The two countries' lower figures bring the regional death toll to about 9,200 .

A Honduran home slides into a river

Despite the revisions, Hurricane Mitch was still one of the deadliest storms to sweep through the region in 200 years.

It smashed national infrastructures, wiped out crops and set development back by years.

The international community responded with a massive relief effort, pledging hundreds of millions of dollars and flying in thousands of rescue workers.

But our Central Americas correspondent Peter Greste says some aid agencies are now worried the dispute over the number of dead may leave donors reconsidering their contributions to a region that still needs help.