Death toll from devastating quake rises to more than 2,700 in Myanmar

The death toll from the devastating 7.7 magnitude earthquake that hit Myanmar has surpassed 2,700, with thousands more injured, Myanmar media reported on Tuesday.

The head of Myanmar’s military government, senior general Min Aung Hlaing, told a forum in the capital, Naypyitaw, that 2,719 people have now been found dead, with 4,521 others injured and 441 missing, the Western News online portal reported.

With many areas hit by Friday’s earthquake still not reached by rescue crews, those numbers are still expected to rise.

The earthquake’s epicentre was near the country’s second-largest city, Mandalay.

Most of the reports of casualties so far have come from Mandalay and the capital, Naypyitaw.

“The needs are massive, and they are rising by the hour,” said Julia Rees, Unicef’s deputy representative for Myanmar.

“The window for lifesaving response is closing. Across the affected areas, families are facing acute shortages of clean water, food, and medical supplies.”

Myanmar’s fire department said that 403 people have been rescued in Mandalay and 259 bodies have been found so far. In one incident alone, 50 Buddhist monks who were taking a religious exam in a monastery were killed when the building collapsed and 150 more are thought to be buried in the rubble.

The World Health Organisation said that more than 10,000 buildings overall are known to have collapsed or been severely damaged in central and northwest Myanmar.

The earthquake also rocked neighbouring Thailand, causing a high-rise building under construction to collapse and burying many workers.

Two bodies were pulled from the rubble on Monday but dozens were still missing. Overall, there were 20 people killed and 34 injured in Bangkok, primarily at the construction site.

Foreign aid workers have been arriving slowly to help in the rescue efforts, but progress was still slow with a lack of heavy machinery in many places.