Foreign rescue teams began flying to Myanmar on Saturday (29) to help in the search for survivors of an earthquake that killed more than 1,000 people in the nation of Southeast Asia, amid a civil war.
The death toll in Myanmar was 1,002, the military government said on Saturday (29), far above the initial reports of the state media of 144 dead on Friday (28).
At least nine people died in neighboring Thailand, where the 7.7 magnitude earthquake shook buildings and knocked a skyscraper under construction in the Bangkok capital, holding 30 people under the rubble with 49 missing.
Predictive modeling of the United States Geological Service estimated that the number of dead could exceed 10,000 in Myanmar and that losses could exceed the country’s annual economic production.
The earthquake damaged roads, bridges and buildings in Myanmar, according to the Military Junta, whose main general made an appeal for international assistance on Friday (28).
“Search and rescue operations are being carried out in the affected areas,” said the Board in a statement published in the state media on Saturday (29).
A Chinese rescue team arrived in the commercial capital of Myanmar, Yangon, hundreds of kilometers from the most affected cities in Mandalay and Nayphitaw, the capital built for the country’s purpose, where parts of a 1,000 beds were damaged.
Russia, India, Malaysia and Singapore are sending supplies loads and rescue teams to Myanmar, which was devastated by a civil war after a 2021 military coup that toppled an elected civil government.
“We will continue to follow the events and more help will follow,” said India Foreign Minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
South Korea said it would provide initial humanitarian aid of $ 2 million to Myanmar through international organizations.
The United States, which has a tense relationship with Myanmar’s military forces and has applied sanctions against its employees, including the chief of the board, Min Aung Hlaing, said it will provide some assistance.
The earthquake, Friday (28), affected wide bands from the country, from the central plains around Mandalay to the Shan hills, parts of which are not completely under control of the joint.
In Mandalay, Myanmar’s second largest city, residents and rescue workers struggled to get people out of collapsed buildings using limited heavy machines available to remove rubble.
In Bangkok, capital of Thailand 1,000 km from the epicenter, a rescue mission intensified his efforts on Saturday (29) to find construction workers arrested under the rubble of the 33 -story tower.
Authorities used excavators, drones, and search and rescue dogs to try to get the 30 people arrested, including at least 15 who still show signs of life.
“We will do everything, we will not give up saving lives, we will use all the resources,” said Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt, on the spot.
After the city stopped on Friday (28), hundreds spent the night in the parks, but the situation was getting better on Saturday (29), he said.
Waanpetch Panta sat at the scene of the building collapsed with her husband, observing the rescue operations and waiting for news from her 18-year-old daughter, who is among the missing.
“I prayed that my daughter was among those taken to the hospital,” she said, “All I can do is sit down and wait like that.”
This content was originally published in number of dead over 1,000 after myianmar earthquake on CNN Brazil.
Source: CNN Brasil
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