Myanmar quake death toll rises sharply to 694
The death toll in Myanmar jumped to 694 with 1,670 injured, the military government said, up sharply from the 144 dead that state media reported on Friday.
'Infrastructure such as roads, bridges, and buildings were affected, leading to casualties and injuries among civilians. Search and rescue operations are currently being carried out in the affected areas,' the junta said in a statement issued on state media.
The junta leader, General Min Aung Hlaing, had warned on Friday of more deaths and injuries as he invited 'any country' to provide help and donations.
A Chinese rescue team arrived on Saturday while Russia and the U.S. offered aid in the disaster, which struck at lunchtime on Friday and damaged hundreds of buildings in neighboring Thailand.
The United States Geological Survey's predictive modeling estimated the death toll could exceed 10,000 people in Myanmar, and that losses could be greater than the value of the country's gross domestic product.
Susan Hough, a scientist in the USGS's Earthquake Hazards Program, told Reuters it was difficult to predict an earthquake's death toll, for various reasons including timing.
When an earthquake strikes during the daytime, as it did with the 7.7 magnitude quake in Myanmar, 'people are awake, they have their wits about them, they are better able to respond,' she said.
Hough, who worked in Myanmar on the local seismology network, said the country's mix of modern structures and traditional buildings would also play a role. Traditional buildings 'are going to be less potentially deadly than concrete,' she said.
International aid arrives
Much of the devastation was in Myanmar's second-largest city, Mandalay, close to the epicenter of the quake.
In the Thai capital Bangkok, 620 miles from the epicenter a rescue mission was stepped up on Saturday to find construction workers trapped under the rubble of a collapsed 33-story tower.
A 37-strong team from China landed in Yangon, Myanmar's former capital, early on Saturday, carrying medicine and equipment to detect signs of life with them, the Chinese embassy said in a Facebook post.
Russia said it was sending 120 experienced rescuers as well as doctors and search dogs, state news agency TASS reported.
President Donald Trump said on Friday he had spoken with officials in Myanmar and that his administration would be providing some form of assistance.
Search for survivors in Thailand
Thai authorities said nine people had died and 101 were missing in Bangkok, mostly laborers trapped in the rubble of the collapsed tower.
'We will do everything, we will not give up on saving lives, we will use all resources,' Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said at the site on Saturday, as excavators moved debris and drones scoured the rubble searching for survivors.
The Thai capital ground to a halt on Friday and Chadchart said hundreds of people had spent the night in city parks, but he said the situation was improving.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
UK police arrest more than 365 at protest for banned Palestine Action group
LONDON, Aug 9 (Reuters) - London's Metropolitan Police arrested more than 365 people at a protest against Britain's decision to ban the group Palestine Action, the force said. Protesters, some wearing black and white Palestinian scarves and waving Palestinian flags, chanted "hands off Gaza", and held placards with the message "I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action", video taken by Reuters at the scene showed. Israel denies allegations of being responsible for genocide in Gaza. The Reuters video showed demonstrators who had gathered in Parliament Square by the Houses of Parliament being carried away by police. The crowd chanted "shame on you" at the police. In a post on X, the police force said it had arrested 365 people for supporting a proscribed organisation. It also arrested seven people for other offences including five for assaults on officers, adding none was seriously injured. In July, British lawmakers banned Palestine Action under anti-terrorism legislation after some of its members broke into a Royal Air Force base and damaged planes in protest against Britain's support for Israel. The ban makes it a crime to be a member of the group, carrying a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison. The co-founder of Palestine Action, Huda Ammori, last week won a bid to bring a legal challenge against the ban.
Reuters
3 hours ago
- Reuters
Iran threatens planned Trump corridor envisaged by Azerbaijan-Armenia peace deal
DUBAI/MOSCOW, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Iran threatened on Saturday to block a corridor planned in the Caucasus under a regional deal sponsored by U.S. President Donald Trump, Iranian media reported, raising a new question mark over a peace plan hailed as a strategically important shift. A top Azerbaijani diplomat said earlier that the plan, announced by Trump on Friday, was just one step from a final peace deal between his country and Armenia, which reiterated its support for the plan. The proposed Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) would run across southern Armenia, giving Azerbaijan a direct route to its exclave of Nakhchivan and in turn to Turkey. The U.S. would have exclusive development rights to the corridor, which the White House said would facilitate greater exports of energy and other resources. It was not immediately clear how Iran, which borders the area, would block it but the statement from Ali Akbar Velayati, top adviser to Iran's supreme leader, raised questions over its security. He said military exercises carried out in northwest Iran demonstrated the Islamic Republic's readiness and determination to prevent any geopolitical changes. "This corridor will not become a passage owned by Trump, but rather a graveyard for Trump's mercenaries," Velayati said. Iran's foreign ministry earlier welcomed the agreement "as an important step toward lasting regional peace", but warned against any foreign intervention near its borders that could "undermine the region's security and lasting stability". Analysts and insiders say that Iran, under mounting US pressure over its disputed nuclear programme and the aftermath of a 12-day war with Israel in June, lacks the military power to block the corridor. Trump welcomed Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in the White House on Friday and witnessed their signing of a joint declaration aimed at drawing a line under their decades-long on-off conflict. Russia, a traditional broker and ally of Armenia in the strategically important South Caucasus region which is crisscrossed with oil and gas pipelines, was not included, despite its border guards being stationed on the border between Armenia and Iran. While Moscow said it supported the summit, it proposed "implementing solutions developed by the countries of the region themselves with the support of their immediate neighbours – Russia, Iran and Turkey" to avoid what it called the "sad experience" of Western efforts to mediate in the Middle East. Azerbaijan's close ally, NATO member Turkey, welcomed the accord. Baku and Yerevan have been at odds since the late 1980s when Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous Azerbaijani region mostly populated by ethnic Armenians, broke away from Azerbaijan with support from Armenia. Azerbaijan took back full control of the region in 2023, prompting almost all of the territory's 100,000 ethnic Armenians to flee to Armenia. "The chapter of enmity is closed and now we're moving towards lasting peace," said Elin Suleymanov, Azerbaijan's ambassador to Britain, predicting that the wider region's prosperity and transport links would be transformed for the better. "This is a paradigm shift," said Suleymanov, who as a former envoy to Washington who used to work in President Aliyev's office, is one of his country's most senior diplomats. Suleymanov declined to speculate on when a final peace deal would be signed however, noting that Aliyev had said he wanted it to happen soon. There remained only one obstacle, said Suleymanov, which was for Armenia to amend its constitution to remove a reference to Nagorno-Karabakh. "Azerbaijan is ready to sign any time once Armenia fulfils the very basic commitment of removing its territorial claim against Azerbaijan in its constitution," he said. Pashinyan this year called for a referendum to change the constitution, but no date for it has been set yet. Armenia is to hold parliamentary elections in June 2026, and the new constitution is expected to be drafted before the vote. The Armenian leader said on X that the Washington summit had paved the way to end the decades of conflict and open transport connections that would unlock strategic economic opportunities. Asked when the transit rail route would start running, Suleymanov said that would depend on cooperation between the U.S. and Armenia whom he said were already in talks. Joshua Kucera, Senior South Caucasus analyst at International Crisis Group, said Trump may not have got the easy win he had hoped for as the agreements left many questions unanswered. The issue of Armenia's constitution continued to threaten to derail the process, and it was not clear how the new transport corridor would work in practice. "Key details are missing, including about how customs checks and security will work and the nature of Armenia's reciprocal access to Azerbaijani territory. These could be serious stumbling blocks," said Kucera. Suleymanov played down suggestions that Russia, which still has extensive security and economic interests in Armenia, was being disadvantaged. "Anybody and everybody can benefit from this if they choose to," he said.
The Guardian
4 hours ago
- The Guardian
Three Thai soldiers injured by landmine on border with Cambodia, army says
Three Thai soldiers were injured on Saturday after one tripped a landmine in territory along its frontier with Cambodia, Thailand's army has said as it accused the neighbouring country of planting concealed weapons in violation of international law. The incident, in which a Thai sergeant major suffered severe injuries, came two days after the countries reasserted their commitment to a ceasefire that ended a brief but intense period of fighting. Cambodia denies the accusation. The army's statement said the incident took place in Thailand's Sisaket province and 'clearly demonstrates to both domestic and international society that the use of concealed weapons in border areas continues to exist, constituting a clear violation of the Ottawa Convention by the Cambodian side'. The Ottawa Convention is an international treaty banning the use of landmines, signed by 164 countries, including Cambodia and Thailand. The incident on Saturday risks enflaming tensions, which remain high despite the fragile truce agreed on 29 July to end the armed conflict. Five days of fighting broke out last month after five Thai soldiers were wounded when one stepped on a mine in disputed territory. The clashes, which killed at least 43 people on either side of the border and displaced more than 260,000, amounted to the worst fighting between the neighbouring countries in more than a decade. Since the truce was agreed, both sides have accused the other of breaching it. Relations remain rocky while anger is being stirred online by a mix of disinformation, threats and nationalism. Two days after the two sides met in Malaysia to sign a 13-point agreement on implementing their ceasefire, the Thai army's statement said that Saturday's incident constituted 'a significant obstacle to the implementation of ceasefire measures and peaceful resolution of problems'. Cambodia strongly denies laying new concealed weapons. 'We have not, and will not, plant new landmines,' the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority said in a statement. It said that Cambodia has cleared more than 1m mines and nearly 3m other unexploded weapons dating back to a period of war and civil unrest that began in 1970 and lasted more than three decades. A Thai sergeant major suffered severe injuries, including losing his left foot in Saturday's incident, according to the Thai army statement, while two privates suffered less serious injuries. Associated Press
