Myanmar junta seeks aid as quake toll passes 1,000

KABUL (Pajhwok): More than 1,000 people have been killed as a result of a massive earthquake that rattled Myanmar and Thailand, a media report said on Saturday.

Myanmar’s military rulers said in a statement at least 1,002 people were killed and about 2,400 injured in the isolated country.

With rescuers digging through the debris of buildings in a frantic search for survivors, the death toll could soar, authorities fear.

AFP reported the 7.7-magnitude quake hit northwest of the city of Sagaing in central Myanmar in the early afternoon on Friday. A 6.7-magnitude aftershock struck moments later.

Buildings were razed, bridges downed and roads buckled across Myanmar, the report said, adding the second biggest city, Mandalay, was the worst hit.

In Mandalay region, 694 people were killed and nearly 1,700 wounded, Myanmar’s military rulers said in a statement. About 10 fatalities occurred in Bangkok.

The toll may increase significantly, as with communications were extensively disrupted in Myanmar, where the true scale of the disaster was yet to be known.

US geologists called the temblor the biggest recorded in Myanmar in over a century. The tremors shook buildings in Bangkok, hundreds of kilometres away from the epicentre.

In Bangkok, a 30-storey skyscraper under construction tumbled. Rescuers toiled through the night looking for workers buried under the rubble.

About 10 people had been confirmed killed across the city, most in the skyscraper collapse, Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt told AFP.

Around 100 workers are still missing at the building. The governor said: “We are doing our best with the resources we have because every life matters.”

In a rare move, Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing sought global aid. The country declared a state of emergency in the six worst-affected regions.

PAN Monitor/mud