Help groups in the worst blow of Myanmar said there was an urgent need for refuge, food and water after an earthquake that killed more than 2,700 people, but said that the country’s civil war could prevent them from needy.
The death toll had reached 2,719 and is expected to increase more than 3,000, said Myanmar military leader, Min Aung Hlaing, in a televised speech on Tuesday. He said that 4,521 people were injured and 441 were missing.
The quake of magnitude 7.7, which arrived at lunchtime on Friday, was the strongest to reach the country of Southeast Asia in more than a century, demolishing the old pagodes and modern buildings equally.
In neighboring Thailand, rescuers pressed to look for life in the rubble of a skyscraper collapsed in the capital Bangkok, but the recognized time was against them.
In the mandalay area of Myanmar, 50 children and two teachers were killed when their preschool collapsed, said the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha).
“In the most affected areas … Communities struggle to meet their basic needs, such as access to clean water and sanitation, while emergency teams work tirelessly to locate survivors and provide help to save lives,” said the UN agency in a report.
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) said that shelter, food, water and medical assistance were needed in places like Mandalay, near the Epicenter of the earthquake.
“Having lived the terremoto terror, people now fears the replicas and are sleeping outside the roads or in the open fields,” said an IRC worker in Mandalay in a report.
The civil war in Myanmar, where the Board confiscated power in a coup in 2021, has complicated efforts to reach the injured and left homeless by the largest earthquake in the Southeast Asian nation in a century.
Amnesty International said the Board needed to allow help to reach areas of the country not under its control. The rebel groups say that the Board has carried out air attacks after the earthquake.
“Myanmar’s army has a long data practice to deny help the areas where the groups that resist are active,” said Myanmar de Amnesty researcher Joe Freeman.
“It must immediately allow access without obstacles to all humanitarian organizations and eliminate the evaluations of delay needs of administrative barriers.”
The strict control of the Board about communication networks and damage to roads, bridges and other infrastructure caused by earthquakes have intensified the challenges for help workers.
Thai officials said that a meeting of regional leaders in Bangkok at the end of this week would continue as planned, although the min hlaing min of the Board can attend teleconference.
Before hitting the earthquake, the sources said that the Board Chief was expected to make a rare foreign trip to attend the summit in Bangkok from April 3 to 4.
Lower hope in the collapsed building
In Bangkok, rescuers were still touring the ruins of an unfinished skyscraper that collapsed for any life sign, but aware that as four days have passed since the earthquake, the chances of finding survivors lengthened.
“There are about 70 bodies below … and we hope that a miracle one or two will remain alive,” said voluntary rescue leader Bin Bunluerit at the construction site.
The vice governor of Bangkok, Tavida Kamolvej, said that the scanners had detected six human figures, but that there was no movement or vital signs. Local and international experts were now working on how to reach them safely, he said.
Search and rescue efforts continued on the site, supported by multinational teams, including the staff of the United States and Israel, since family and friends said they feared the worst.
“The rescue teams are doing everything possible. I can see that,” said Artithap Lalod, 19, who was waiting for his brother’s news.
“However, it turns out that this is how it has to be. We just have to accept that things will be as they are,” he said.
Thirteen deaths have been confirmed on the construction site, with 74 people who are still missing. The national death number of Thailand of the earthquake is found in 20.
The initial tests showed that some steel samples collected from the collapsed building site were deficient, officials of the Thai Industry Ministry said. The government has launched an investigation into the cause of collapse.
