Death Rate from Myanmar Earthquake Increases

(MENAFN) The death rate from the powerful earthquake in Myanmar has increased to 3,471, with search and rescue workers persistently recovering more victims, based on state media reports on Sunday.

The earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.7, struck on March 28 and has caused widespread devastation, injuring 4,671 individuals and leaving 214 others missing as of Saturday.

Rescue efforts have been ongoing, with both local and international teams managing to save approximately 653 individuals trapped under collapsed structures. Additionally, 682 bodies have been recovered from the rubble.

Tom Fletcher, the United Nations' leading aid official, who visited survivors in Mandalay, a city near the earthquake's epicenter, described the situation as "staggering" and called on the global community to "stand behind the people of Myanmar."

Aid organizations are particularly concerned that a combination of unusual rainfall and intense heat may lead to disease outbreaks, such as cholera, among survivors who are living in temporary shelters outdoors.

Fletcher also shared on X, "Families sleeping outside the ruins of their homes while bodies of loved ones are pulled from rubble. Real fear of more quakes."

In terms of infrastructure, the Yangon-Mandalay railway line and Mandalay International Airport have resumed operations after being temporarily shut down due to earthquake-related damages.

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