A unilateral partial cease-fire to facilitate the help of the earthquake was announced on Saturday by the national government of the national unity of Myanmar, which coordinates the popular fight against the power army. The number of deaths in the country of the disaster has climbed to 1,644.
The figure was a sharp increase compared to the 1,002 announced a few hours earlier, stressing the difficulty of confirming the victims in a generalized region and the probability that the figures continue to develop fromQuake of magnitude 7.7 Friday. The number of wounded increased to 3,408, while the missing figure increased to 139.
The number of deaths also increases in Thailand
In neighboring Thailand, the death toll has increased at 10 years. The earthquake has shaken the Grand Bangkok region, housing around 17 million people and other parts of the country. Many places in the North have reported damage, but the only victims have been reported in Bangkok, the capital.
Nine of the deaths were on the skyscraper site collapsed under construction near the Bangkok Chatuchak market, while 78 people were still not recorded.
On Saturday, more heavy equipment was brought to move the tons of rubble, but the hope was upset with friends and parents.
“I was praying for them to survive, but when I got here and I saw the ruin – where could they be?” Said Naruemol Thongek, 45, sobbing while waiting for news from his partner, which is Myanmar, and five friends who worked on the site.
Myanmar assistance efforts have hampered damage to airports
InMyanmarThe life efforts have been focused on the big cities struck by Mandalay, the country 2 of the country, and Naycyitaw, the capital.
But even if the teams and the equipment have been avecés in other countries, they are hampered by damage to airports. Planet Labs PBC satellite photos analyzed by the Associated Press show that the earthquake overturned the air traffic control tower at Naycyitaw International Airport as if it were transparent of its base.
He was not immediately clear if there had been victims of his collapse.
The Civil War of Myanmar also an obstacle
Another major complication is thecivil warRouting a large part of the country, including the areas affected by the earthquake. In 2001, the military seized the power of the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, causing what has since been transformed into significant armed resistance.
Government forces have lost control of a large part of the Myanmar, and many places are incredibly dangerous or simply impossible to reach for help groups. According to the United Nations, more than 3 million people have been moved by fighting and nearly 20 million need it, according to the United Nations.
THEInteraction of politics and disasterswas demonstrated on Saturday evening, when the government of the National Unit of Myanmar announced a unilateral partial cease-fire to facilitate the help of rescue of earthquakes.
He declared that his armed wing, the popular defense force, will implement a two -week break in offensive military operations from Sunday in the areas affected by earthquakes and that he would also collaborate with the UN and international non -governmental organizations “to ensure the security, transport and creation of temporary rescue and medical camps”, in the fields he controls.
The organization of resistance said that it had reserved the right to retaliate in defense if it was attacked.
Significant damage in cities
The earthquake struck at noon on Friday with an epicenter not far from Mandalay, followed by several aftershocks, including one measuring 6.4. He has sent buildings in many areas reversing to the ground, completed the roads and caused the bridges collapse.
In Naytyitaw, the crews worked on Saturday to repair damaged roads, while electricity, telephone and internet services were down for most of the city. The earthquake has shot down many buildings, including several units that sheltered government officials, but this city section was blocked by the authorities on Saturday.
A first report on the rescue efforts of earthquakes issued on Saturday by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that this allocated $ 5 million from a central emergency intervention fund for “vital assistance”.
Immediate planned measures include a convoy of 17 loading trucks carrying a critical shelter and China medical supplies that should arrive on Sunday, he said.
He noted the serious damage or the destruction of many health establishments, and warned against a “serious shortage of medical supplies led to response efforts, in particular trauma kits, blood bags, anesthetics, assistance devices, essential drugs and tents for health workers.”
Allies providing rescue teams and emergency materials
Friends and neighbors of Myanmar have already called on rescue staff and rescue documents. China and Russia are the largest weapons suppliers to the Myanmar army and were among the first to intervene with humanitarian aid.
In a country where previous governments have sometimes been slow to accept foreign aid, General Min Aung Hlaing, head of military government, said myanmar was ready to accept external assistance.
China said it has sent more than 135 rescue staff and experts as well as supplies such as medical kits and generators, and promised about $ 13.8 million in emergency. The Russian Ministry of Emergency said that it had stolen from 120 rescuers and supplies, and the country’s Ministry of Health said Moscow had sent a medical team to Myanmar.
Other countries like India, South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore also send aid, and US President Donald Trump said on Friday that Washington was going to help the answer.
The ceasefire plan announced by the government of the national opposition unit also proposed to provide health professionals loyal to its resistance movement to work with international humanitarian organizations to provide emergency rescue and medical services in the fields under the control of the army, if they are provided with security guarantees.
The army has strongly limited the efforts of aid essential to the large population already moved by war even before the earthquake. The sympathizers of the resistance exhorted that the emergency efforts incorporate the assistance freely transported in the areas under the control of the resistance, so that it cannot be armed by the army.
The soldiers were commented on by the soldiers.
The military forces continued their attacks even after the earthquake, with three air strikes in the north of the state of Kayin, also called the state of Karenni, and Southern Shan – both from the Mandalay state border, said that Dave Eubank, a former soldier of the American army special forces who founded Free Burma Rangers.
Eubank told AP that in the region in which he operated, most of the villages have already been destroyed by the military, so that the earthquake had little impact.
“People are in the jungle and I was in the jungle when the earthquake struck-it was powerful, but the trees had just moved, it was everything for us, so we had no direct impact that the Burmese army continues to attack, even after the earthquake,” he said.
Earthquakes are rare in Bangkok, but relatively common to Myanmar. The country is on the sagaing fault, a major north-south-south flaw that separates the Indian plate and the baking sheet.
Brian Baptie, a seismologist of the British Geological Survey, said that the earthquake had caused intense soil tremors in an area where most of the population lives in buildings built in wood and masonry of uninformed bricks.
“When you have a large earthquake in an area where there are more than a million people, many of whom live in vulnerable buildings, the consequences can often be disastrous,” he said in a statement.
This story was initially presented on Fortune.com
