Survivors still being found after Myanmar quake, but hopes fade as deaths exceed 2,700

BANGKOK — Rescue workers saved a 63-year-old woman from the rubble of a building in Myanmar’s capital on Tuesday, but hope was fading of finding many more survivors of the violent earthquake that killed more than 2,700 people, compounding a humanitarian crisis caused by a civil war. The fire department in Naypyitaw said the woman was successfully pulled from the rubble 91 hours after being buried when the building collapsed in the 7.7 magnitude earthquake that hit midday Friday.

Experts say the likelihood of finding survivors drops dramatically after 72 hours. The head of Myanmar’s military government, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, told a forum for relief donations in Naypyitaw that 2,719 people have now been found dead, with 4,521 others injured and 441 missing, Myanmar’s state MRTV television reported.



He said Friday’s earthquake was the second most powerful in the country’s recorded history after a magnitude 8 quake east of Mandalay in May 1912. The casualty figures are widely expected to rise. The earthquake hit a wide swath of the country, leaving many areas without power, telephone or cell connections and damaging roads and bridges, making the full extent of the devastation hard to assess.

Most of the reports so far have come from Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city, which was near the epicentre of the earthquake, and Naypyitaw, the capital. “The needs are massive, and they are rising by the hour,” said Julia Rees, UNICEF’s deputy representative for Myanmar. Myanmar’s fire department said 403 people have been rescued in Mandalay and 259 bodies have been found so far.

In one incident, 50 Buddhist monks who were taking a religious exam in a monastery were killed when the building collapsed, and 150 more are thought to be buried in the rubble. The World Health Organization said that more than 10,000 buildings overall are known to have collapsed or been severely damaged in central and northwest Myanmar. The earthquake also rocked neighbouring Thailand, causing a high-rise building under construction to collapse and burying many workers.

Two bodies were pulled from the rubble Monday and another was recovered Tuesday, but dozens were still missing. Overall, there were 21 people killed and 34 injured in Bangkok, primarily at the construction site. In Myanmar, search and rescue efforts across the affected area paused briefly at midday Tuesday as people stood for a minute in silent tribute to the dead.

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