Myanmar’s earthquake death toll jumps to more than 1000 as more bodies recovered from the rubble

The government led by military in the country said in a statement that 1002 people have been found dead and another 2376 injured, with another 30 missing. The statement suggested that the numbers could still increase, saying that “detailed figures are still being collected.”

The earthquake arrived at noon on Friday (4.30 PM AEDT) with an epicenter not far from Mandalay, followed by several aftershocks, including one that measures a strong magnitude of 6.4.

He sent buildings in many areas that collapsed to the ground, the roads fasted, caused the bridges to collapse and explode a dam.

The authorities of the city of Bangkok said that until now six dead people have been found, 26 wounds and 47 are still missing, the majority of a construction site near the popular Chatuchak market in the capital.

When he hit the earthquake, the great height of 33 floors building by a Chinese firm for the Thai government staggered, then crashed into the ground in a huge column of dust that sent people to scream and flee from the scene.

On Saturday, more heavy equipment was brought to move the tons of rubble, but hope was fading between friends and family of the disappeared who would find them alive.

“I was praying to have survived, but when I got here and I saw the ruin, where could they be? What corner? Are they still alive? I’m still praying for the six to be alive,” said Naruemol Thonglek, 45, sobbing while waiting for news about his partner, who is from Myanmar and five friends who worked on the site.

“I can’t accept this. When I see this, I can’t accept this. A close friend is also there,” he said.

Waenphet Panta said he had not heard from his daughter Kanlayanee from a phone call approximately one hour before the earthquake.

A friend told her Kanlayanee that she had been working in the building on Friday.

“I’m praying that my daughter is safe, so she has survived and is in the hospital,” he said, Kanlayanee’s father sitting next to him.

Myanmar sits in great failures

The earthquakes are rare in Bangkok, but relatively common in Myanmar. The country sits in the Sagaing fault, a large north-south fault that separates the plate from India and the Sunday plate.

Brian Baptie, a symologist of the British Geological Survey, said that it looks like a 200 -kilometer section of the fault that broke for just over a minute, with a slide of up to five meters in some places, causing an intense land in an area where the majority of the population lives in buildings built of wood and brick masonry without reinstatements.

“When you have a great earthquake in an area where there are more than one million people, many of them living in vulnerable buildings, the consequences can often be disastrous,” he said in a statement.

“Of the initial reports, that seems to be the case here.”

A natural disaster in addition to a civil war

The Myanmar government said the blood had a great demand in the most affected areas. In a country where previous governments have sometimes taken to accept foreign help, Min Aung Hlaing said Myanmar was ready to accept external assistance.

The Army of Myanmar seized the power of the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021, and is now involved in a bloody civil war with militias established for a long time and the newly formed prodemocracy.

Government forces have lost control of much of Myanmar, and many places are incredibly dangerous or simply impossible to reach help groups.

According to the United Nations, more than 3 million people have been displaced by fighting and almost 20 million are necessary.

“Although a complete image of the damage is still emerging, most of us have never seen such destruction,” said Haider Yaqub, country director of Myanmar for the NGO International Plan in Yangon.

“Without a doubt, humanitarian needs will be significant.”

Rescue groups are heading to Myanmar

China and Russia are the largest weapons suppliers for the Myanmar Army, and were one of the first to intervene with humanitarian aid.

A team of 37 members of the Chinese province of Yunnan arrived in the city of Yangon early on Saturday with earthquake detectors, drones and other supplies, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

The Emergency Ministry of Russia sent two aircraft with 120 rescuers and supplies, according to a report by the Russian state news agency TASS.

India sent a search and rescue team and a medical team, as well as provisions, while the Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the country will send 50 people on Sunday to help identify and provide help to the areas of worse blow.

South Korea announced that it would provide humanitarian aid worth $ 2 million ($ 3.17 million) to Myanmar through international organizations to support recovery efforts. The Foreign Ministry added that Seoul would closely monitor the situation and consider additional support if necessary.

The United Nations allocated $ 5 million ($ 7.9 million) to start help efforts.

President Donald Trump said Friday that the United States was going to help with the answer, but some experts were worried about this effort given the deep cuts of their administration in foreign assistance.

Trump administration cuts to the United States Agency for International Development have already forced the United Nations and non -governmental organization to reduce many programs in Myanmar.