Mandalay was the “city of gold”. Now he feels corpses

Mandalay was known as the city of gold, dotted with sparkling pagodas and Buddhist funeral mounds, but the air in the ancient royal capital of Myanmar is now corpse.

So many corpses have accumulated since an earthquake of magnitude of 7.7 struck last Friday near Mandalay, which they had to be “cremated in batteries,” said a resident.

The death toll of the earthquake and a series of replicas exceeded 2,700, with 4,521 injured and hundreds who were still missing, said the military chief of Myanmar. These figures should increase.

Residents of the second most populous city in the country say they spent white nights wandering the streets of despair while food and water supplies decreased.

The resident of Mandalay who spoke of bodies “cremated in batteries” lost her aunt in the earthquake.

“But his body was not removed from the rubble until two days later, on March 30,” said the 23 -year -old student who only wanted to be known as J.

Mediocre infrastructure and a patchwork of civilian conflicts seriously hamper myanmar rescue efforts, where soldiers have a history of the extent of the national disasters. The number of deaths should continue to increase while rescuers have access to more collapsed buildings and cut -off districts.

J, who lives in the district of Mahaaungmyay of Mandalay, felt “dizzy for being deprived of sleep,” she said.

Many residents have lived out of the tents – or nothing – along the streets, fearing that what remains of their houses could not resist replicas.

“I saw a lot of people, including me, crouching and cry aloud in the streets,” said J.

But the survivors are still in the city. The fire services said they had saved 403 people in Mandalay in the past four days and recovered 259 bodies. It is believed that the real number of victims is much higher than the official version.

In a television speech on Tuesday, the military leader Min Aung Hlaing said that the number of deaths could exceed 3,000, but the US Geological Survey said on Friday “a death report above 10,000 is a strong possibility” based on the location and size of the earthquake.

Young children were particularly traumatized in the disaster.

A local pastor told the BBC that his eight -year -old son had taken tears several times several times in the past few days, after having witnessed parts of his neighborhood buried in rubble in an instant.

“He was in the bedroom upstairs when the earthquake struck, and my wife took care of his younger sister, so some debris had fallen on him,” said Ruate, who only gave his first name.

“Yesterday, we saw bodies coming out of the collapsed buildings in our neighborhood,” said Ruate, who lives in the Pygyitagon region in the south of Mandalay.

“It is very sober. Myanmar was affected by so many disasters, some natural, some have made humans. Everyone has become so tired. We feel desperate and helpless.”

A monk who lives near the condominium of Sky Villa, one of the least affected buildings, reduced from 12 to six floors by the earthquake, told the BBC that even if some people had been removed alive, “only corpses have been recovered” in the past 24 hours.

“I hope it will be over soon. There is a lot (body) still inside, I think more than a hundred,” he said.

The crematoriums close to Mandalay have been overwhelmed, while the authorities are short of body bags, among other supplies, including food and drinking water.

Around the city, the remains of crushed pagodas and golden arrows line the streets. While Mandalay was a major center for the production of gold leaves and a popular tourist destination, poverty in the city has skyrocketed in recent years, as with myanmar (formerly called Burma).

Last week’s earthquake also affected Thailand and China, but Its impact was particularly devastating In Myanmar, which was ravaged by a bloody civil war, a paralyzed economy and general disillusionment since the soldiers took power during a coup in 2021.

Tuesday, Myanmar organized a minute of silence to remember the victims, part of a week of national mourning. The junta asked that the flags fly half of mast, the media emissions are interrupted and asked people to pay tribute.

Even before the earthquake, more than 3.5 million people had been moved to the country.

Thousands of others, Many of them are young people, fled abroad To avoid forced conscription – this means that there are fewer people to help rescue work and subsequent reconstruction of the country.

Russia and China, which have contributed to supporting the Military Military Regime, are among the countries that have sent aid and specialized support.

But the relief was slow, said J.

“(Rescue teams) have been working constantly for four days and I think they are a little tired. They also need rest.

“But because the damage has been so extensive, we have limited resources here, it is simply difficult for help to manage such massive destruction effectively,” she said.

Although the junta said all assistance was welcome, some humanitarian workers have reported challenges to access areas struck by earthquakes.

The local sagaing media, where the epicenter of the earthquake was, reported restrictions imposed by military authorities This requires that organizations submit lists of volunteers and articles they wish to bring to the region.

Several rights defending rights, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have urged the Junta to allow humanitarian workers to immediately access these areas.

“Myanmar military junta always invokes fear, even following a horrible natural disaster that killed and injured thousands of people,” said Bryony Lau, deputy director of Asia of Human Rights Watch.

“The junta must break with her appalling past practice and ensure that humanitarian aid quickly reaches those whose life is in danger in the areas affected by earthquakes,” she said.

The junta also aroused criticism for continuing to open fire on the villages even though the country turns out to be disaster. Large sagaing parts are under control of resistance groups.

A Commander of the Popular Defense Forces (PDF) – a network of pro -democracy civil groups – told the BBC that soldiers were carrying out ground attacks.

Commander Rebelle Min Naing, who commands 300 fighters, said that his forces do not retaliate, claiming to respect a two-week ceasefire Announced by the government of national opposition unity after the earthquake.

The Three Brotherhood Alliance-which is made up of three ethnic groups which also oppose the junta-also announced on Tuesday a month-long ceasefire in order, he said, to help facilitate help efforts.

Meanwhile, the BBC Burmese pointed out that there had been drone attacks and air attacks in the states of Kachin and Shan.

With additional reports from Rebecca Henschke.