Myanmar government media has revealed that the death toll in many recent earthquakes in the country has exceeded 2,000, while rescue operations are on between rigorous climate.
According to reports, the natural disaster has killed hundreds of Muslims offering prayers in mosques during the holy month of Ramadan and 270 Buddhist monks have been buried in a collapsing monastery.
According to a warning by the support groups and the United Nations, the earthquake has not only killed people, but has also increased the possibility of outbreak of hunger and disease in the country amid the ongoing civil war.
On Friday, there was a 7.7 magnitude earthquake, which was near Mandalay, the second largest city in Myanmar. It damaged the city airport, roads broke and hundreds of buildings collapsed.
Relief campaign
The rescue team is facing obstacles in its campaign due to increasing temperature above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) per day, with lack of electricity, fuel deficiency and communication system.
According to the Associated Press, the rescuers of the Mandley’s collapsed U Hala Thein Math said they are still searching for about 150 dead monks.
Myanmar government MRTV said that the leader of the military government, senior general Min Aung Hurling told the Prime Minister of Pakistan over phone that 2,065 people have been killed, more than 3,900 were injured and about 270 are missing.
Relief agencies hope that these numbers will grow rapidly, as reach in remote areas is slow where communication is closed.
Lauren Elie, deputy director of the International Rescue Committee programs in Myanmar, told Associated Press, “We are not really clear about the scale of destruction at this level.” He further said, “They were talking about a city near Mandala where 80% of the buildings had allegedly collapsed, but it was not in the news because the telecommunications has been slow.”
He said that the groups with which the IRC works with have said that some places have been cut due to landslides. The World Health Organization has reportedly stated that it reports that three hospitals were destroyed and partially damaged in the region.
It said, “Trauma and surgical care, blood transfusions, anesthetics, essential medicines and mental health assistance are immediate requirement.” According to the AP report, artificial intelligence analysis of Mandalay’s satellite images by Microsoft’s AI for Good Lab has shown that 515 buildings are 80% to 100% damaged and 1,524 other buildings are 20% to 80% damaged. It was not clear what percentage of the city buildings are damaged.
