The dead toll from the Myanmar earthquake has surpassed 2,700, leaving survivors without food or shelter

After an earthquake that killed over 2,700 people, humanitarian organizations in the worst-hit districts of Myanmar said there was an immediate need for food, water, and shelter, but they also warned that the civil strife in the country would make it difficult for supplies to get to those in need.

In a televised speech on Tuesday, Myanmar’s military chief Min Aung Hlaing stated that the death toll had reached 2,719 and was predicted to climb beyond 3,000. According to him, 441 persons were reported missing and 4,521 injured.

The largest earthquake to strike the Southeast Asian nation in almost a century, with a magnitude of 7.7, struck Friday at lunchtime and destroyed both new and old structures.

Rescuers in neighboring Thailand continued to hunt for survivors amid the debris of a tower that had collapsed in the country’s capital, Bangkok, while realizing that time was running out.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that a preschool in the Mandalay region of Myanmar collapsed, killing 50 children and two teachers.

“In the hardest-hit areas …communities struggle to meet their basic needs, such as access to clean water and sanitation, while emergency teams work tirelessly to locate survivors and provide life-saving aid,” the United Nations said in its report.

According to the International Rescue Committee, areas like Mandalay, which is close to the earthquake’s core, require food, water, shelter, and medical assistance.

In a report, an IRC worker in Mandalay stated, “After experiencing the terror of the earthquake, people are now afraid of aftershocks and are sleeping outside on roads or in open fields.”

Reaching those hurt and displaced by the largest earthquake to strike the Southeast Asian country in a century has been made more difficult by the civil conflict in Myanmar, where the army took over in a coup in 2021.

According to Amnesty International, the junta must permit help to enter parts of the nation that are outside its jurisdiction. Rebel organizations claim that following the earthquake, the junta carried out airstrikes.

“Myanmar’s military has a longstanding practice of denying aid to areas where groups who resist it are active,” Joe Freeman, a Myanmar researcher for Amnesty International, stated.

“It must immediately allow unimpeded access to all humanitarian organisations and remove administrative barriers delaying needs assessments.”

Aid workers now face more difficulties as a result of the junta’s strict control over communication networks and the earthquakes’ damage to highways, bridges, and other infrastructure.

Although Min Aung Hlaing of the junta may participate by teleconference, Thai officials said a regional leaders’ gathering in Bangkok later this week would proceed as scheduled.

The junta commander was scheduled to attend the conference in Bangkok from April 3–4 on a rare overseas trip prior to the earthquake, according to reports.

THE COLLAPSED BUILDING HOPES DIM

Rescuers in Bangkok were still searching the wreckage of an incomplete tower for any survivors, but they were aware that the probability of finding survivors increased with the passage of four days since the earthquake.

At the construction site, volunteer rescue leader Bin Bunluerit stated, “There are about 70 bodies underneath… and we hope by some miracle one or two are still alive.”

Six human-shaped forms were identified by scanners, but there was no movement or vital signs, according to Bangkok Deputy Governor Tavida Kamolvej. Experts from around the world and locally were now figuring out how to get to them securely, she said.

Family members and friends expressed their fear of the worst as search and rescue operations at the scene continued, aided by multinational teams that included personnel from the United States and Israel.

“The rescue crews are exerting every effort. Artithap Lalod, 19, who was awaiting word on his brother, remarked, “I can see that.”

“It must be that way, however it turns out. He said, “We simply have to accept that things will be as they are.”

There are still 74 persons missing from the construction site, and 13 deaths have been confirmed. Twenty people have died as a result of the earthquake in Thailand.

According to Thai industry ministry authorities, preliminary testing revealed that certain steel samples taken from the location of the collapsed building were not up to par. The cause of the collapse is being investigated by the authorities.