Fighting that led to dozens of deaths in Meikhtila is repeated in nearby towns as security forces struggle to exert control

A UN envoy has called for calm after visiting the Burmese city of Meikhtila, the seat of a bloody wave of fighting between Buddhists and Muslims that spread over the weekend into neighbouring communities.

Burma's president, Thein Sein, has declared a state of emergency in the region and deployed army troops to Meikhtila. But even as soldiers were able to impose order there after several days of anarchy that saw armed Buddhists torch the city's Muslim quarters, unrest was reported in two other towns to the south.

State television said mobs had burned down a mosque and 50 homes on Saturday in Yamethin, about 40 miles (64km) from Meikhtila, while another mosque and several buildings were set ablaze in Lewei, further south near the capital, Naypyitaw. The clashes have killed dozens of people and displaced 10,000.

The government has put the total death toll at 32 and authorities say they have detained at least 35 people allegedly involved in arson and violence in the region.

On Sunday Vijay Nambiar, the UN secretary general's special adviser on Burma, toured Meikhtila and visited some of the displaced. He called on the government to punish those responsible.

Myanma Ahlin, a state-run newspaper, carried a statement from Buddhist, Muslim, Christian and Hindu leaders expressing sorrow for the loss of life and property and calling on Buddhist monks to help ease tensions. "We would like to call upon the government to provide sufficient security and to protect the displaced people and to investigate and take legal measures as urgently as possible," the statement from the Interfaith Friendship Organisation said.

The rioting began on Wednesday after a deadly argument between a Muslim gold shop owner and his Buddhist customers in Meikhtila. Once news spread that a Muslim man had killed a Buddhist monk, Buddhist mobs rampaged through a Muslim neighbourhood and the situation quickly spiralled out of control.

The spread of violence is posing a major challenge to stability as Thein Sein's administration, led by retired military officers, struggles to reform the country after half a century of army rule nominally ended two years ago.

There were two similar episodes in western Rakhine state last year, pitting ethnic Rakhine Buddhists against Rohingya Muslims who are widely denigrated as illegal migrants from Bangladesh and are denied passports as a result. The Muslim population of central Burma, by contrast, is mostly of Indian origin and does not face the same questions over nationality.

In Meikthila at least five mosques were set ablaze from Wednesday to Friday. The majority of homes and shops burned in the city also belonged to Muslims and most of the displaced are Muslim. Dozens of corpses were piled in the streets, some of them charred beyond recognition.

Residents and activists said the police did little to stop the rioters or reacted too slowly, allowing the violence to escalate.