Death Toll from Major Earthquake Continues to Rise
Rescue Operations Carried Out Bare-Handed Due to Lack of Equipment
It has been reported that a life-or-death struggle is underway at rescue sites following the earthquake that struck Myanmar and Thailand.
On the 28th (local time), the British BBC reported that a volunteer rescuer living in a village near Mandalay, the second largest city in Myanmar, said that machines are needed to rescue people trapped under the rubble of collapsed buildings, but they are unable to obtain them. He said, "We are digging out people with our bare hands. This is not enough to recover bodies and rescue those trapped under the debris." He explained, "People are crying out, 'Help us, help us.' It really feels hopeless."
A rescuer working in Mandalay testified, "Most of the buildings have collapsed," and added, "People were running in the streets, screaming and crying." He also mentioned that Mandalay General Hospital is almost full, and the hospital building itself has been damaged. He said that people are afraid to go home even at night and some are sitting on the streets unable to sleep. He said, "People are terrified as they watch their family, friends, and relatives disappear before their eyes."
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) estimated a 71% chance that the death toll from this earthquake will exceed 10,000, and a 33% chance that economic losses will exceed 100 billion dollars (about 147 trillion won).
A rescuer working in the Naypyidaw area, the capital of Myanmar, said that people trapped under the rubble of collapsed buildings were calling for help, but there was no way to rescue them. Mick O'Shea, who participated in evacuating patients at a hospital in Bangkok, Thailand, said, "At first, people carried patients out in wheelchairs or stretchers, but when wheelchairs and stretchers ran out, they carried patients on their backs, holding their arms and legs." There was also a scene where a pregnant woman hospitalized in the hospital was evacuated outside the building on a stretcher and gave birth on the street surrounded by medical staff while lying on the stretcher.
A building in Bangkok, Thailand collapsed due to the Myanmar earthquake. Photo by Reuters and Yonhap News.
BBC reported that an unfinished skyscraper in Bangkok collapsed, and debris continues to fall at the site, posing a danger to rescuers and buried victims. So far, six bodies have been confirmed at this collapse site, and about 100 construction workers are missing.
Dogs trained to smell and drones have been deployed to try to find buried survivors, but due to the difficulty of the search operation, it has not yet been decided which area to enter, and no missing persons have been found or rescued through the search so far.
In particular, there are concerns that even if Myanmar receives support from abroad, the military regime that came to power through a coup may deliberately withhold aid from some areas. Moncy Ferrer, Deputy Director of Amnesty International, said, "The military has a history of refusing support to areas where groups with a record of resistance are active."
Also, the British daily The Guardian speculated that the Bagan Buddhist heritage site in Myanmar, located near the Sagaing fault line where the strong earthquake occurred, may have been destroyed. This site contains about 2,200 Buddhist relics, including pagodas and temples built in the 11th century, but it has long been pointed out as vulnerable to earthquakes. This heritage site, designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2019, also suffered significant damage when an earthquake occurred in 2016.
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