Bangkok, Mar. 31, (dpa/GNA) – The death toll after a devastating 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar has risen to more than 2,000, the country’s military rulers said on Monday.
In a statement, officials said it was confirmed that 2,056 people had died, with over 3,900 injured and more than 270 still missing.
Experts warn that the toll could still rise sharply due to the dense population and the vulnerability of many structures. Local media reported that the smell of corpses hung in the air in the hardest-hit areas.
Search and rescue efforts remain desperate as emergency crews navigate buckled roads, crumbling buildings and aftershocks that continue to rattle the region since the quake hit on Friday.
Its epicentre was near Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city.
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared a level 3 emergency response, its highest level. The designation mobilizes the UN agency’s largest possible relief efforts.
“The earthquake’s devastation has overwhelmed health care facilities in the affected areas, which are struggling to manage the influx of injured individuals,” a WHO statement said on Monday.
“There is an urgent need for trauma and surgical care, blood transfusion supplies, anaesthetics, essential medicines, and mental health support.”
The military junta declared a period of national mourning until April 6.
Survivors pulled from rubble after 60 hours
Rescue workers recovered three survivors — a 5-year-old child, a pregnant woman, and a 29-year-old woman — from the ruins of a collapsed residential tower in Mandalay early Monday. According to the Myanmar Now news agency, the trio was pulled to safety by Chinese teams.
Many people are feared to be still trapped under the debris, with families anxiously waiting for news of missing loved ones.
The aid organization Save the Children said that many families had sought refuge in monasteries and football pitches for fear of aftershocks.
Aftershocks prompt evacuations in Bangkok
The impact of the earthquake extended beyond Myanmar, with aftershocks prompting evacuations in neighbouring Thailand on Monday.
In Bangkok, several high-rise buildings, including the Tisco Tower office complex, the Criminal Court, and the One Bangkok shopping mall, were cleared as a precaution.
“I felt it, though it was much lighter than Friday’s quake,” an office worker in the city’s Sathorn district told dpa. “I think the authorities just want to play it safe now.”
Sirens from emergency vehicles echoed through Bangkok as people waited on the streets for safety assessments.
But it is the debris from the massive collapse of a 30-story building under construction that continues to be a focus of intense effort.
Eighty people remain missing at the site, with volunteers using excavators and search dogs in their scramble to find them. While loved ones are still hoping for a miracle, the 72 hours that buried people can normally survive without food and drink have passed.
According to Bangkok’s governor Chadchart Sittipunt, infrared sensors detected the vital signs of at least three people in the rubble on Sunday evening. However, rescuers are having difficulty reaching them because the scene of the disaster remains very unsafe.
The total number of deaths in the Thai capital stands at 19.
WHO ramps up aid, calls for $8 million in assistance
The WHO has already dispatched 3 tons of medical supplies to hospitals in Mandalay and Naypyidaw, but the situation remains dire.
The earthquake destroyed three hospitals and damaged 22 others, further crippling Myanmar’s fragile health care system, the Geneva-based agency said.
Even before the disaster, 12.9 million people in the country relied on medical aid. The WHO is now urging donor countries to provide $8 million in emergency funding to support medical treatment, disease prevention, and essential health services in the weeks ahead.
Emergency rescue teams from China, India, Malaysia and Russia have arrived in Myanmar to support rescue operations.
Myanmar’s civil war has further complicated relief efforts.
Damaged infrastructure and restrictions imposed by the ruling junta are slowing aid distribution, while international humanitarian groups warn of looming secondary crises, including disease outbreaks and food shortages.
Devastating loss for Myanmar’s Muslims
According to information from Myanmar authorities and witnesses, the death toll among Muslim worshippers across the country is currently at least 700.
The death toll could be higher, especially as the mosques can usually hold several hundred people.
Kyaw Win, executive director of the Burma Human Rights Network, said in a telephone interview that the earthquake caused 60 mosques to collapse as devout Muslims were gathering for midday prayers.
He emphasized it was “extremely difficult” to obtain accurate information about the situation.
Myanmar is predominantly Buddhist, and Muslim minorities face persecution. Applications seeking permission to renovate the mosques are frequently denied, leaving them in poor condition, the activist said.
GNA
PDC