The Myanmar military rulers have let out hundreds of foreign rescue personnel after an earthquake killed more than 1600 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 from a military coup in February 2021.
The number of deaths in Myanmar rose to 1644, the military government said on Saturday, according to the BIROMANS BBC news service.
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.
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.
In Bangkok on Saturday, rescue operations continued at the 33 -story tower collapse site, where 47 people were missing or trapped under the rubble, including Myanmar workers.
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.
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.
“The president of the State Board of Directors (Min Cong Hlaing) instructed the authorities to accelerate the search and rescue efforts and address any urgent need,” said the Board in a statement on state media.
An initial evaluation by the Government of National Unity 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.
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 a value of value of $ US13.77 million ($ A21.85 million), including stores, blaits and emergency medical kits.
The United States, which has an irritable relationship with Myanmar’s army and has sanctioned its officials, including Min Conit Hlaing, has said it would provide assistance.
India’s help supplies in a military plane also landed in Yangon, according to the state media of Myanmar, and the government of India said that it was also sending ships with 40 tons of humanitarian aid.
Russia, Malaysia and Singapore were also sending load supplies and personal supplies.
The Asian Southeast Nations Association, 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,” said the group a statement.
Residents in the most affected areas are desperate for help.
The earthquake, which hit the time of lunch on Friday, affected large 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.
In Bangkok, 1000 kilometers from the epicenter, the authorities advanced on Saturday with efforts to find construction workers trapped under the rubble of the 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.”
Chanpen Kaewnoi, 39, said he hastened on Friday afternoon after watching news reports that the subventive construction building where his mother and younger sister were working had collapsed.
“I called my sister, but it doesn’t matter how many times I tried to call her, there was no connection,” he said after an insomnia night on the site.
