Scramble to free survivors as death toll passes 1,600 after Myanmar earthquake

The Guardian

29-03-2025

Rescue workers battled for a second night to find survivors of Myanmar's devastating earthquake, which has killed at least 1,644 people and injured thousands more.
Teams with little protective equipment, at times using only their bare hands, scrambled to free survivors from the rubble of countless buildings that were shattered by Friday's 7.7-magnitude earthquake.
There was a brief moment of joy for exhausted emergency workers as a 30-year-old woman was rescued alive after more than 30 hours trapped beneath an apartment building in Mandalay, Myanmar's second-biggest city and one of the worst affected areas.
Phyu Lay Khaing, who was brought out of the Sky Villa Condominium, a 12-storey development, by stretcher, was embraced by her husband, Ye Aung, and taken to hospital, AFP reported. It is feared more than 90 people remain trapped there.
In neighbouring Thailand Bangkok's governor, Chadchart Sittipunt, said the search for construction workers at the site of a collapsed 30-storey building in the capital would continue. 'We believe that there are still survivors. We will do everything possible to rescue them,' he saidon Saturday evening, adding that heavy machines, including cranes and diggers, were being used to clear access at the site. The building fell to the floor while under construction near the city's Chatuchak weekend market.
Drones and sniffer dogs have been deployed to identify signs of life. At least 10 people have died in Bangkok. Dozens more are missing.
Myanmar's ruling junta said in a statement that 1,644 people have now been found dead and another 3,408 injured. Others are still missing.
Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing issued a rare appeal for international help on Friday, and declared a state of emergency across six areas of the country. Aid began to arrive in Myanmar on Saturday with Russia and China, two of the isolated junta's few allies, flying in rescue teams and supplies. India sent a search and rescue team and a medical team, and Malaysia said it would send 50 people on Sunday.
The response to the disaster is complicated not only by communication outages and damaged roads, but also the conflict that has gripped the country since the military seized power in a coup in 2021. The junta has faced dogged armed resistance to its rule, formed of a patchwork of groups, including civilians who took up arms to fight for the return of democracy, and ethnic armed organisations that have long fought for independence. It has lost swathes of territory, and responded with relentless airstrikes, which continued even after the devastating quake, including in Sagaing, close to the epicentre.
The World Food Programme's country director, Michael Dunford, said that coordinating a response to the disaster would be 'very challenging'. He added it could be 'days and weeks' before the true scale of the damage in Myanmar is knownAn assessment by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said hospitals and health facilities had sustained 'extensive damaged or destruction', adding that there were 'a severe shortage of medical supplies'.
Major bridges, roads, universities, hotels, historical and religious sites and public buildings have also been heavily damaged or destroyed, according to reports cited by UNOCHA.
The shallow 7.7-magnitude quake, which was followed minutes later by a 6.7-magnitude aftershock, was felt across the region, and is the largest quake to hit Myanmar in decades.
Myanmar's junta chief invited 'any country, any organisation' to help with relief and said he 'opened all ways for foreign aid'.
The junta has in the past repeatedly been accused of blocking humanitarian aid to areas controlled by its opponents. The Norwegian Refugee Council said 'immediate and unhindered access for aid workers' would be critical.
On Saturday evening many in Mandalay prepared to sleep outside overnight, either because their homes had collapsed or they feared continued quakes.
The disaster comes at a time when many aid agencies are scaling back their work following Trump's cuts to the US Agency for International Development, a major donor. Trump said on Friday that the US was going to help with the response, though no concrete commitment has yet been announced.
The European Union said it was providing €2.5m in initial emergency aid and assessing the needs on the ground to mobilise further assistance. EU crisis management commissioner Hadja Lahbib said the EU 'stands in solidarity with people in Myanmar and the broader region'.
The United Nations has allocated $5m to start relief efforts, while the World Health Organization said it was preparing to surge support in response to 'a very, very big threat to life and health'.