The death toll from a significant earthquake that struck Myanmar last week has reached 2,719, with expectations of surpassing 3,000, according to the chief of the ruling junta.
In a televised address, Min Aung Hlaing mentioned that there are also 4,521 individuals injured and 441 reported missing following the quake on Friday.
At least 19 fatalities have been confirmed in neighboring Thailand.
Myanmar observed a moment of silence to honor the victims of a devastating earthquake that claimed over 2,000 lives, damaging infrastructure and flattening buildings as far away as Bangkok.
The nation came to a halt at 12:51 PM local time (7:21 AM Irish time) – the exact time the earthquake occurred on Friday – to remember those who perished.
The ruling junta requested that citizens pause at that moment, instructing media to stop broadcasting and display symbols of mourning, while prayers would be offered in temples and pagodas.
This act is part of a week of national mourning declared by the junta, with flags to be flown at half-mast on official buildings until April 6 “in sympathy for the lives lost and the damage incurred”.
International and domestic rescue teams are utilizing thermal imaging technology to search through the rubble for missing individuals.
Read more: Who is providing aid to Myanmar after the earthquake?
Sleeping outdoors
Mandalay, Myanmar’s second largest city, which is home to over 1.7 million residents, experienced some of the most severe destruction, with many residential structures reduced to rubble.
Hundreds of residents have spent four nights sleeping outside, either due to the destruction of their homes or out of fear that aftershocks would cause further damage.
“I don’t feel safe. There are six or seven-story buildings next to my house that are leaning, and they could collapse at any moment,” said Soe Tint, a watchmaker, after spending the night outside.
People are taking shelter in temporary tents set up outdoors in Mandalay.
Some individuals camping outdoors are equipped with tents, but many – including babies and children – have been using blankets to sleep in the streets, trying to stay as far away as possible from damaged structures.
Across the city, apartment complexes have been flattened, a Buddhist religious site devastated, and hotels turned into twisted ruins.
At some disaster sites, the smell of decaying bodies is prevalent.
On the outskirts of Mandalay, a crematorium is processing hundreds of bodies for disposal, with many more expected as victims are recovered from the debris.
Fear of aftershocks has led the city’s general hospital, which has 1,000 beds, to relocate patients to the parking lot, where they lie on gurneys beneath a flimsy tarpaulin for protection against the intense tropical sun.
International aid efforts
Even prior to the earthquake, Myanmar’s 50 million population was suffering due to four years of civil conflict that erupted when the military overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government in 2021.
The UN reported that at least 3.5 million people were displaced by the conflict before the earthquake, with many facing food insecurity.
The junta claims it is doing its utmost to respond to the disaster, but recent reports have indicated military airstrikes against armed groups opposing its rule, even during the ongoing crisis following the quake.
UN special envoy to Myanmar Julie Bishop called for all factions to cease hostilities and focus on safeguarding civilians and delivering humanitarian aid.
Thai rescue teams are ramping up their operations at a collapsed construction site in Bangkok.
In the wake of the quake, junta leader Min Aung Hlaing made an unusually rare call for international assistance, breaking from the longstanding practice of the isolated ruling generals to decline foreign aid after major disasters.
International aid efforts post-quake have included an emergency appeal for $100 million (€92 million) from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to assist victims.
In recent days, China, Russia, and India have sent response teams to Myanmar, while the United States reported the dispatch of a group of “humanitarian experts”.
Today is expected to be another sweltering day in the country, with clear skies forecast in Mandalay and temperatures nearing 40 degrees Celsius.
Hundreds of miles away, cleanup efforts in Bangkok continued at the site of a collapsed 30-story skyscraper that was under construction when the quake struck.
In the Thai capital, the confirmed death toll stands at 19, with concerns that this number could rise sharply as dozens remain unaccounted for beneath the ruins.
