Rescuers in Myanmar pulled four more people from rubble nearly 60 hours after a powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck the south-east Asian country on March 28, killing at least 1,700 people.
The survivors were rescued from a collapsed school building in the northern Sagaing region, from which a body was also recovered, Myanmar’s fire service said.
Hundreds of people remain missing, with search and rescue efforts under way in both Myanmar and neighbouring Thailand.
The death toll has risen to 18 people in the Thai capital, Bangkok, where 76 workers are still missing following the collapse of a high-rise building that had been under construction.
The earthquake occurred near Myanmar’s second-largest city Mandalay, along the Sagaing fault – with tremors affecting several other nations.
Although rescue efforts have been under way since March 28, and international aid is starting to reach Myanamar, there have been delays in reaching the worst-hit areas, leaving locals to attempt to dig survivors out by hand.
On March 29, an elderly woman was rescued in Myanmar’s capital, Nay Pyi Taw, after being trapped for 36 hours under the rubble of a hospital.
Footage showed her being carried on a stretcher to a waiting ambulance, surrounded by emergency workers.
Twenty-nine people were also rescued from a collapsed apartment block in Mandalay, the local fire authority said on March 30.
The earthquake struck around 12:50 local time on March 28, just 6 miles from the surface – meaning its effects at ground level were felt more strongly than a deeper quake.
A second earthquake struck 12 minutes later, with a magnitude of 6.4 and an epicenter 11 miles south of Sagaing, the regional capital, which sits near Mandalay.
Aftershocks have continued since. On March 30, a magnitude-5.1 tremor was recorded north-west of Mandalay.
In Bangkok, where soft soil made the shaking more intense, an unfinished tower block collapsed, burying many who had been working at the site.
Thailand’s Deputy PM Anutin Charnvirakul said on March 30 that rescuers had detected signs of life under the rubble at the site, but cautioned that they were weak.
International rescue teams have been joining the disaster effort, with several countries sending assistance to Myanmar. These include:
- China sending an 82-person rescue team
- A 51-strong team arriving from Hong Kong on Sunday
- India sending an aid flight carrying a rescue team and emergency supplies
- Malaysia’s foreign ministry saying it would send a 50-person team to support disaster relief operations
- The Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Ireland, South Korea and New Zealand also sending rescue teams
- UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy pledging £10m in aid to help “those most in need”.