The impact of the Myanmar earthquake overwhelmed parts of the health system, said the World Health Organization, while the official death toll reached more than 2,000 people, with much more missing.
Rescue operations were faced with “significant obstacles, including damaged roads, collapsed bridges, unstable communications and complexities related to civil conflict,” said WHO in an update.
“The devastation of the earthquake has exceeded health establishments in the affected areas, which find it difficult to manage the influx of injured people. There is an urgent need for trauma and surgical care, blood transfusion supplies, anesthesia, essential drugs and mental health support, “added the United Nations Health Agency.
Later Monday, the Myanmar junta announced that the major Friday earthquake had resulted in the death of 2,056 people. A spokesperson said that 270 other people were still missing, with 3,900 people injured.
The predictive modeling estimates of the US Geological Survey, which monitors seismic activity, suggest that the number of deaths could possibly reach more than 10,000.
The WHO said that at least three hospitals were destroyed and 22 have been partly damaged, while “the extent of deaths and injuries is not yet fully understood”. The agency had previously issued an urgent flash appeal for $ 8 million (6.1 million pounds sterling) for emergency medium.
Myanmar has declared a week of national mourning, with national flags to fly in half-mast.
In the central parts of the country, houses, religious sites, schools, universities, hospitals and hospitals have all been damaged or destroyed. Rescue volunteers spent days trying to release people with collapsed buildings.
In Mandalay, one of the most affected and the second largest cities in the country, with more than 1.7 million inhabitants, people camped in the streets for a third successive night. The city’s 1,000 -bed general hospital had also been evacuated, hundreds of patients treated outside.
“The situation is so disastrous that it is difficult to express what is going on,” said Aung Myint Hussein, the chief administrator of the Sajja North mosque in Mandalay.
At the U Hla Thein monastery in Mandalay, 270 monks passed a religious examination when the earthquake struck. The rescuers on the scene said on Monday that 70 had been able to escape, but 50 had been found dead, and that 150 were still brought to count.
Communications with many affected areas are poor, partly due to the country’s continuing civil war, a large part of the country of military administration.
After a rare demand from the isolated junta of Myanmar for international aid – perhaps due to the overwhelming magnitude of the impact – international assistance began to arrive during the weekend. China and Russia have sent help and staff, while India, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore have also sent help.
A Taiwan rescue team was also ready to provide assistance to Myanmar but was not called, in the middle of speculation that the team was denied entry so as not to offend the enemy of Taiwan and the China of Myanmar.
The earthquake occurred as well as many humanitarian agencies reduced projects in Myanmar after the Donald Trump cuts to the main American humanitarian group, USAID.
“Even before this earthquake, nearly 20 million people in Myanmar needed humanitarian assistance,” said the United Nations representative in Myanmar, Marcoluigi Corsi. “This last tragedy aggravates an already disastrous crisis and risks further eroding the resilience of communities already beaten by conflicts, travel and past disasters.”
Myanmar was already in crisis before the disaster, due to a spiral conflict triggered when the military seized the power during a coup in 2021. The junta faces armed resistance to her reign, formed of civilians who took up arms to fight for the return of democracy and armed ethnic organizations that have long fought for independence.
He lost territory expanses and responded with relentless air strikes, which continued after the devastating earthquake, even close to the epicenter.
In neighboring Thailand, which was also affected by the earthquake, the authorities were investigating possible factors that led to the devastating collapse of a Bangkok construction site, where dozens remain missing.
Bangkok’s vice-government, Tavida Kamolv, said it is unlikely that anyone who was saved from the building that collapsed. At least 19 people are known to have been killed in Thailand.
The Prime Minister of the country, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, also summoned a meeting with the ministries responsible for sending SMS alerts to the public, in the midst of the criticism of the response when the earthquake struck.
