The Myanmar military rulers have let out hundreds of foreign rescue personnel after an earthquake killed more than 1,600 people, the most fatal natural disaster to hit the country impoverished and devastated by war in years.
The earthquake of magnitude 7.7 on Friday, among the largest to shake the nation of Southeast Asia in the last century, paralyzed airports, bridges and roads in the middle of a civil war that has destroyed the economy and displaced millions since then since then in February 2021.
The number of deaths in Myanmar rose to 1,644, the military government said on Saturday, according to the BIANS news of the BBC.
The survivors in Mandalay, the second largest city in Myanmar, dug with their naked hands on Friday in desperate attempts to save those who are still trapped, without heavy machinery and with the absent authorities.
The predictive modeling of the United States geological service estimated that the number of Deaths of Myanmar could exceed 10,000 and losses could exceed the country’s annual economic production.
The earthquake has killed more than 1600 people. Fountain: AAPA / Stringer/EPA
A day after making a rare call for international assistance, the Chief of the Junta de Myanmar, General Senior Min Cong Hlaing, traveled to Mandalay, affected, near the epicenter of the earthquake, which brought buildings and caused fires in some areas.
An initial evaluation of the opposition of Myanmar said that at least 2900 buildings, 30 roads and seven bridges had been damaged by the earthquake.
“Due to significant damage, Naypyitaw and Mandalay’s international airports are temporarily closed,” said the NUG, which includes remains of the elected civil government overthrown by the military coup.
The control tower at Naypyitaw airport, the specially designed capital of Myanmar, collapsed, which made it inoperable, a person told Reuters with knowledge of the situation.
A Myanmar Board spokesman did not respond to the calls looking for comments.
International rescue teams begin to arrive
A Chinese rescue team arrived at the airport of the commercial capital of Myanmar, Yangon, hundreds of kilometers from Mandalay and Naypyitaw, and will travel to the bus cut, state media said.
The Chinese president, Xi Jinping, spoke on the phone with the Chief of the Board, said the China Embassy in Myanmar on Saturday, and said that Beijing would provide value of value of $ USA13.77 million ($ 21.85 million), including campaign stores, emergency medical blaits and kits.
Russia, Malaysia and Singapore were also sending load supplies and personal supplies.
The Asian Southeast Nations Association (ASEAN), a block of 10 countries that includes Myanmar, said he recognized the urgent need for humanitarian assistance.
“ASEAN is ready to support help and recovery efforts,” the group said in a statement.
The powerful earthquake has destroyed infrastructure, houses and transport networks. Fountain: Kick one / Noisakra de Tera
Residents in the most affected areas are desperate for help.
The earthquake, which hit the local time of lunch time on Friday, affected wide strips of Myanmar, from the central plains around Mandalay to Shan hills in the east, of which they are not completely under the control of the Board.
Rescue operations in Mandalay could not match the disaster scale, said a resident by phone, asking not to be appointed due to security concerns.
“Many people are trapped, but there is no help to come simply because there is no labor, equipment or vehicles,” he said.
‘We always have hope’
In neighboring Thailand, where the earthquake shook the buildings and knocked down a skyscraper in construction in the capital, Bangkok, at least nine people were killed.
The authorities advanced on Saturday with efforts to find construction workers trapped under the debris of the 33 -story collapsed tower, using excavators, drones and search and rescue dogs.
Vice -Prime Minister of Thailand, Anutin Charnvirakul, said that all possible resources had been deployed to seek survivors and to recover the deceased.
“We always have hope,” he told reporters.
“We are still working 24 hours.”
Readers who wish to donate to the appeal of the Myanmar earthquake can do so or calling 1300 939 000.
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