MORE than 1 000 people have been killed in Myanmar and thousands more injured following a 7.7 magnitude earthquake that was also felt in neighbouring countries.
The majority of the fatalities are in Myanmar’s second-largest city, Mandalay, the area closest to the earthquake’s epicentre.
In Bangkok, Thailand, operations are ongoing after an unfinished high-rise collapsed – with around 100 construction workers unaccounted for and six dead, according to local government officials.
Rescue workers are scrambling to find survivors, a team in Mandalay tells the BBC: “We are digging out people with our bare hands.”
The quake damaged roads, bridges and buildings in Myanmar, according to the junta, whose top general made a rare call for international assistance on Friday.
“Search and rescue operations are currently being carried out in the affected areas,” the junta said in a statement on state media on Saturday.
The U.S Geological Service’s predictive modelling estimated the death toll could exceed 10,000 in Myanmar and that losses could exceed the country’s annual economic output.
(BBC)
