Myanmar’s military rulers let in hundreds of foreign rescue personnel yesterday after an earthquake killed more than 1,600 people, the deadliest natural disaster to hit the impoverished, war-torn country in years.
Friday’s 7.7 magnitude quake, among the biggest to jolt the Southeast Asian nation in the last century, crippled airports, bridges and highways amid a civil war that has wrecked the economy and displaced millions.
The death toll in Myanmar climbed to 1,644, the military government said, according to BBC Burmese news service.
In neighbouring Thailand, where the quake rattled buildings and brought down a skyscraper under construction in the capital Bangkok, at least nine people were killed.
Survivors in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-biggest city, dug with their bare hands in desperate attempts to save those still trapped, lacking heavy machinery and with authorities absent.
In Bangkok, rescue operations continued at the site of the 33-storey tower’s collapse, where 47 people were missing or trapped under the rubble – including workers from Myanmar.
The US Geological Service’s predictive modelling estimated Myanmar’s death toll could exceed 10,000 and losses could exceed the country’s annual economic output.
A day after making a rare call for international assistance, Myanmar’s junta chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, travelled to hard-hit Mandalay near the epicentre of the quake, which brought down buildings and triggered fires in some areas.
Hospitals in central and northwestern Myanmar were struggling to cope with the influx of injured people, the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs said, warning that damage to roads was hindering access.
Seventeen cargo trucks of shelter and medical supplies were due to arrive today to address shortages of medicines, including blood bags and anaesthetics, the agency added.
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