Myanmar’s powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake killed more than 1,000 people on Saturday. This is because more bodies were drawn from the tile rub of the building score that collapsed when it collided near the second largest city in the country.
The country’s military-led government said in a statement that 1,002 people have been killed, another 2,376 have been injured and 30 others have been missing. The statement suggests that “detailed numbers are still being collected,” saying it could still rise.
Myanmar is in the midst of the long, bloody civil war that is causing a massive humanitarian crisis. It makes movements across the country difficult and dangerous, complicate relief efforts, and raises fears that deaths could still surge.
The earthquake struck at noon on Friday at the epicenter not too far from Mandalay, followed by several aftershocks, including one measuring a strong magnitude of 6.4. It caused many local buildings to fall to the ground, bent down the roads, collapsed bridges, and destroyed dams.
In nearby Thailand, an earthquake has shaken up the Greater Bangkok area, with about 17 million people living there. Many of them live in high rise buildings.
Bangkok city authorities have so far killed six people, 26 injured and 47 still missing, most of which are from construction sites near the capital’s popular Chatuchak market.
When the trembling clashed, a 33-storey skyscraper built by a Chinese company for the Thai government wobbled, then crashed into the ground amid massive dust that shouted people and fled.
More heavy equipment was brought in on Saturday to run the bulk of the tiled rubber, but hope was declining among missing friends and family that they would be alive.
“I prayed they survived, but when I arrived here and saw the abandoned in, where are they? Are they still alive? I’m still alive? I pray that all six of them are still alive,” said 45-year-old Naré Moltonlek, waiting for news from Myanmar.
“I can’t accept this. When I see this, I can’t accept this. My best friend is there too,” she said.
Waenphet Panta said he hadn’t heard from his daughter Kanlayanee since the call was about an hour before Quake. A friend said her Kanrayani worked high in the building on Friday.
“I pray that my daughter is safe, that she is still alive and that she is in the hospital,” she said.
The Myanmar government said blood is in high demand in the most intense hit regions. In a country where previous governments were slow to accept foreign aid from time to time, Min Ang Frening said Myanmar is ready to accept support.
A team of 37 from China’s Yunnan province arrived in Yangon early on Saturday, with earthquake detectors, drones and other supplies, official Xinhua news agency reported.
According to a report by Russian state news agency TASS, the Russian Ministry of Emergency has dispatched 120 rescuers and two planes carrying supplies.
India has sent search and rescue teams, medical teams and provisions, but Malaysia’s Foreign Ministry said it will send 50 people on Sunday to identify the worst hit areas and provide assistance.
The United Nations has allocated $5 million to launch relief efforts. President Donald Trump said Friday that the US will help with the response, but some experts were concerned about the effort given his administration’s deep cuts in foreign aid.
The Trump administration’s cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development have already forced the UN and non-governmental organisations to cut many Myanmar programs.
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Bangkok AP writers Jerry Harmer and Grantopek contributed to this report.
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