The catastrophic earthquake has left thousands struggling for aid, with the World Food Programme scaling up efforts to assist 8.5 lakh survivors with food and cash assistance; international rescue teams from China, Thailand, Japan, other nations are on the ground, while recovery efforts continue.
Search teams in Myanmar recovered more bodies from the ruins of buildings on Friday, a week after a massive earthquake killed more than 3,100 people, as the focus turns toward the urgent humanitarian needs in a country already devastated by a continuing civil war.
United Nations humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher, who is also the emergency relief coordinator, will visit the area on Friday in an effort to spur action following the March 28 earthquake.
Ahead of the visit, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed to the international community to immediately step up funding for quake victims “to match the scale of this crisis,” and he urged unimpeded access to reach those in need.
“The earthquake has supercharged the suffering with the monsoon season just around the corner,” he said.
Continuing attacks
Myanmar’s military and several key armed resistance groups have all declared ceasefires in the wake of the earthquake to facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid.
But the UN’s Human Rights Office on Friday accused the military of continuing attacks, claiming there were more than 60 attacks after the earthquake, including 16 since the military announced a temporary ceasefire on Wednesday.
“I urge a halt to all military operations, and for the focus to be on assisting those impacted by the quake, as well as ensuring unhindered access to humanitarian organisations that are ready to support,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said.
“I hope this terrible tragedy can be a turning point for the country towards an inclusive political solution.”
Announcing its ceasefire, the military also said it would still take “necessary” measures against resistance groups if they use the ceasefire to regroup, train or launch attacks, and the groups have said they reserved the right to defend themselves.
Myanmar’s military seized power in 2021 from the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, sparking what has turned into a civil war.
The quake worsened an already dire humanitarian crisis, with more than three million people displaced from their homes and nearly 20 million in need even before it hit, according to the United Nations.
Myanmar authorities said on Thursday that 3,145 people had been killed in the earthquake, with another 4,589 people injured and 221 missing, and did not immediately update the figures on Friday.
Britain, which had already allocated $13 million to purchase emergency items such as food, water, and shelter, pledged an additional $6.5 million in funds to match an appeal from Myanmar’s Disasters Emergency Committee, according to the U.K. Embassy in Yangon.
The World Food Programme said so far it has reached 24,000 survivors but is scaling up its efforts to assist 8,50,000 with food and cash assistance for one month.
Search on
Many international search and rescue teams are now on the scene, and eight medical crews from China, Thailand, Japan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Russia are operating in Naypyitaw, according to Myanmar’s military-run government.
Another five teams from India, Russia, Laos, Nepal, and Singapore are helping in the Mandalay region, while teams from Russia, Malaysia, and the ASEAN bloc of nations are assisting in the Sagaing region.
The Donald Trump administration has pledged $2 million in emergency aid and sent a three-person team to assess how best to respond, given drastic cuts to U.S. foreign assistance.
On Friday, five bodies were recovered from the rubble in the capital, Naypyitaw, and the second-largest city of Mandalay, near the epicentre of the 7.7 magnitude earthquake on March 28, authorities said.
The last reported rescue came on Wednesday, some 125 hours after the earthquake struck, when a man was saved from the wreckage of a hotel in Mandalay.
The earthquake also shook neighbouring Thailand, bringing down a high-rise under construction in Bangkok, where recovery work continued on Friday. Overall, 22 people have been found dead and 35 injured in Bangkok, primarily at the construction site.
