The death toll from a huge earthquake that hit Myanmar and Thailand spent 1,000 on Saturday, while rescuers dug into the rubble of collapsed buildings in a desperate search for survivors.
The earthquake of the magnitude of 7.7 shaded to the northwest of the city of Sagaing in the center of Myanmar in the early afternoon, followed minutes later by a replica of 6.7 magnitude.
The earthquake destroyed the buildings, the demolished bridges and the roads fastened through the strips of Myanmar, with a massive destruction seen in Mandalay, the second largest city in the country and the home of more than 1.7 million people.
At least 1,002 people died and almost 2,400 wounds in Myanmar, said the ruling board in a statement. About 10 more deaths have been confirmed in Bangkok.
But with severely interrupted communications, the true disaster scale has not yet emerged from the isolated military governed state, and the toll is expected to increase significantly.
It was the biggest earthquake to hit Myanmar in more than a century, according to American geologists, and tremors were powerful enough to damage buildings severely in Bangkok, hundreds of kilometers from the epicenter.
In Mandalay, AFP The journalists saw a Buddhist pagoda centuries that had been reduced to the debris by the earthquake.
“He started shaking, then began to get serious,” said a soldier at a control point on the road outside the pagoda.
“The monastery also collapsed. A monk died. Some people were injured, we took out some people and took them to the hospital.”
The head of the main statue of Buddha in the monastery fell and was placed on the platform at his feet.
“Everyone in the monastery does not dare to sleep inside, as we hear that there could be another earthquake. I have never felt something like that in my life,” said the soldier.
The guards at Mandalay airport rejected journalists. “It has closed since yesterday,” said one. “The roof collapsed but nobody was injured.”
Airport damage would complicate aid efforts in a country whose rescue and health system services have already been devastated for four years of civil war caused by a military coup in 2021.
Rare Board Supply for Help
The Chief of the Board Min Aung Hlaing issued an exceptionally rare appeal for international aid on Friday, indicating the severity of calamity. Previous military regimes have rejected foreign assistance even after great natural disasters.
The country declared an emergency state in the six regions worse affected after the earthquake, and in an important hospital in the capital, Naypyidaw, doctors were forced to treat the wounded outdoors.
An official described him as a “area of massive victims.”
“I have not seen [something] So before. We are trying to handle the situation. I’m so exhausted now, “a doctor told AFP.
Mandalay, a city of more than 1.7 million people, seemed to have been very affected. AFP The photos showed dozens of buildings reduced to rubble.
A resident arrived at the same time by phone AFP that a hospital and a hotel had been destroyed and said the city lacked rescue personnel.
A large bus and trucks aligned at a control point to enter the capital early on Saturday.
Foreign assistance offers began to enter, with President Donald Trump on Friday promising help from us.
“It’s terrible,” Trump told journalists at the Oval office about the earthquake when asked if he would respond to the appeal of Myanmar’s military rulers.
“It’s really bad, and we’ll be helping. We have already talked to the country.”
Pakistan announced that embassies in Yangon and Bangkok would be available to provide assistance to Pakistani in case of emergencies.
An initial flight from India that transported hygiene kits, blankets, food packages and other essential elements landed in the Yangong capital on Saturday.
“We will continue monitoring the developments and will continue more help,” said Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
China said he sent a team of rescuers from 82 people to Myanmar.
Russia, Malaysia and Singapore were also sending planes of help and personnel supplies to Myanmar, who has been devastated by a civil war after a 2021 military coup expelled an elected civil government.
South Korea said it would provide initial $ 2 million in humanitarian aid to Myanmar through international organizations.
Help agencies have warned that Myanmar is not prepared to deal with a disaster of this magnitude. Some 3.5 million people were displaced by the furious civil war, many at risk of hunger, even before the earthquake hit.
Bangkok building collapse
On the other side of the border in Bangkok, rescuers worked during the night in search of trapped survivors when a 30 -story skyscraper in construction collapsed, reduced in seconds to a battery of debris and twisted metal by the force of the tremors.
Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt AFP That around 10 people had been confirmed murdered throughout the city, most of the collapse of skyscrapers.
But up to 100 workers were not yet counted in the building, near the Chatuchak Weekend market that is a magnet for tourists.
“We are doing our best with the resources we have because every life matters,” Chadchart told journalists at the scene.
“Our priority is to act as quickly as possible to save them all.”
The authorities of the city of Bangkok said that more than 100 engineers would deploy to inspect the safety buildings after receiving more than 2,000 damage reports.
Up to 400 people were forced to spend the night outdoors in the city parks, since their houses were not safe to return, said Chadchart.
The significant earthquakes are extremely rare in Bangkok, and Friday’s tremors sent buyers and workers who rushed to the street with alarm throughout the city.
While there was no widespread destruction, the tremor brought some dramatic images of roof pools that placed their contents along the side of many of the imposing blocks and hotels of the city apartments.
Even the hospitals were evacuated, and a woman gave her baby outdoors after being transferred from a hospital building. A surgeon also continued to operate with a patient after evacuating, completing the operation outside, said a spokesman said AFP.
