Latest reports suggest that four more people have now been pulled from rubble nearly 60 hours after a powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar on Friday, killing at least 1,700 people in the South East Asian country.
The survivors were rescued from a collapsed school building in the northern Sagaing region, from which a body was also recovered, Myanmar’s fire service said. Hundreds of people remain missing, with desperate search and rescue efforts continuing on Monday in both Myanmar and neighbouring Thailand.
The death toll has risen to 18 people in the Thai capital, Bangkok, where 76 workers are still missing following the collapse of a high-rise building that had been under construction. Friday’s earthquake occurred near Myanmar’s second-largest city Mandalay, along the Sagaing fault – with tremors affecting several other nations.
Although rescue efforts have been under way since Friday, and international aid is starting to reach Myanamar, there have been delays in reaching the worst-hit areas, leaving locals to attempt to dig survivors out by hand.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that hospitals are overwhelmed with injured people, while a World Food Programme spokesman has told the BBC thousands of displaced people are without food, shelter and medicine.
One teacher in Mandalay told the BBC on Sunday that she was not sure whether any aid had reached the city. “They say that the rescue’s coming, but people are still suffering,” she said.
Meanwhile, her friend in the nearby city of Sagaing said the stench of dead bodies was permeating the streets.
Recall that on Saturday night, an elderly woman was rescued in Myanmar’s capital, Nay Pyi Taw, after being trapped for 36 hours under the rubble of a hospital. Footage showed her being carried on a stretcher to a waiting ambulance, surrounded by emergency workers.
Twenty-nine people were also rescued from a collapsed apartment block in Mandalay, the local fire authority said on Sunday. The earthquake struck around 12:50 local time (06:20 GMT) on Friday, just 10km (6.2 miles) from the surface – meaning its effects at ground level were felt more strongly than a deeper quake.
A second earthquake struck 12 minutes later, with a magnitude of 6.4 and an epicentre 18km (11 miles) south of Sagaing, the regional capital, which sits near Mandalay. Aftershocks have continued since. On Sunday a magnitude-5.1 tremor was recorded north-west of Mandalay.
Story was adapted from the BBC.
