Earthquake Death Toll Approaching 2,000; Desperate Search For Loved Ones
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
MANDALAY/BANGKOK (Worthy News) – Desperate people continued searching for loved ones in Myanmar Saturday as the death toll of Friday’s 7.7 devastating earthquake reportedly rose to at least 1,644, with thousands more listed as injured.
Their efforts came amid air strikes by forces of Myanmar’s junta military, outraging the United Nations.
Teams with little protective equipment, at times using only their bare hands in the impoverished Southeast Asian nation, scrambled to free survivors from the rubble of countless buildings that were shattered by Friday’s 7.7-magnitude earthquake, according to footage reviewed by Worthy News.
There was a brief moment of joy for exhausted emergency workers as a 30-year-old woman was rescued alive after more than 30 hours trapped beneath an apartment building in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-biggest city and one of the worst affected areas, witnesses said.
Phyu Lay Khaing, who was brought out of the Sky Villa Condominium, a 12-storey development, by stretcher, was embraced by her husband, Ye Aung, and taken to hospital. It is feared more than 90 people remain trapped there.
In neighboring Thailand, Bangkok’s governor, Chadchart Sittipunt, said the search for construction workers at the site of a collapsed 30-story building in the capital would continue. “We believe that there are still survivors. We will do everything possible to rescue them,” he said late Saturday.
Drones and sniffer dogs have been deployed to identify signs of life. At least 10 people have died in Bangkok. Dozens more are missing.
US RELIEF
The United States pledged to send relief after initial concerns that President Donald J. Trump’s suspension of USAID agency operations could impact rescue efforts.
Other countries providing aid include Indonesia, India, and France.
However, the United Nations warned of difficulties ahead in Myanmar, also known as Burma, amid ongoing civil strife that has also impacted the Christian minority.
The U.N. noticed a severe lack of medical supplies was hampering response efforts in the nation ruled by.
“As the full scale of the disaster unfolds, urgent humanitarian assistance is needed to support those affected,” the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) stressed
This included a shortage of “trauma kits, blood bags, anesthetics, assistive devices, essential medicines, and tents for health workers.”
The agency said that damaged roads and debris blocked humanitarian access and complicated needs assessments.
AIR STRIKES
Disruptions to the telecommunications network and internet were also hindering humanitarian operations.
However, the U.N. said the rescue efforts were also hampered by Myanmar’s military junta, which was carrying out the major earthquake there.
The U.N. described the attacks as “completely outrageous and unacceptable.” In recent years, thousands of people, many of them Christian minorities, have been displaced due to military attacks, Worthy News documented.
Many have tried to enter neighboring Thailand.
Special U.N. Rapporteur Tom Andrews said it was “nothing short of incredible” that the military was continuing to “drop bombs when you are trying to rescue people” after the earthquake.
He called on “the military regime,”which seized power in a coup nearly four years ago, to stop all military operations.
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