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31-03-2025
GENEVA: Humanitarian operations in Myanmar have been hindered by damaged roads and infrastructure, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Saturday.
A 7.7 magnitude earthquake on Friday severely damaged critical infrastructure including major bridges and roads, making it difficult for humanitarian operations to access areas in need, OCHA said.
Hospitals in central and northwestern Myanmar are struggling to cope with the influx of people injured in the earthquake, the agency stated. Seventeen cargo trucks of shelter and medical supplies are due to arrive on March 30, to address current shortages of medicines including blood bags and anaesthetics.
Myanmar’s military rulers let in hundreds of foreign rescue personnel on Saturday after the earthquake killed more than 1,600 people, the deadliest natural disaster to hit the impoverished, war-torn country in years.
The search for survivors continues in Myanmar, where at least 1,644 people have been confirmed dead after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck on Friday.
At least 11 more deaths have been reported in neighboring Thailand’s capital Bangkok, some 1,000km (620 miles) from the epicenter of the quake.
The quake destroyed buildings, bridges and roads across swaths of Myanmar. Many believe the true scale of the disaster has yet to emerge due to patchy communications in remote areas.
It hit a nation already in chaos with a civil war that has escalated since the 2021 military coup, which toppled the elected government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and sparked a nationwide armed uprising.
Meanwhile, The Bangkok Post is reporting that Thailand’s Department of Public Works and Town and Country Planning will investigate why the under-construction State Audit Office’s building collapsed during the earthquake.
Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said a committee would investigate and report within a week, looking into whether any aspects of the building’s design contributed to its collapse, according to the daily.
Videos shared online showed construction workers running away as the 30-storey tower block came crashing down.
Of 17 people who died in Thailand due to the earthquake, 10 were inside the Audit Office building.
Australia to provide $1.25m to Myanmar
Foreign Minister Penny Wong says Australia’s support of 2 million Australian dollars ($1.25m) to Myanmar for “immediate humanitarian relief” will be provided through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and is an “initial” contribution.
“Our thoughts are with everyone affected by this devastating event, which only adds to an already-dire humanitarian situation in Myanmar,” Wong said in a statement.
Wong added that Australia “does not provide any direct funding to the military regime and takes proactive steps to ensure our assistance does not legitimize the military regime in Myanmar” and described the “ongoing crisis in Myanmar” as “a major threat to stability in our region”.
Media reporting from Mandalay, says many people spent a third night sleeping outside on Saturday night, fearing even brief aftershocks could collapse already severely damaged buildings. “People are choosing to sleep either on the streets next to their houses or in tent cities gathered together for comfort.”
Photos published by the EPA news agency meanwhile showed people in Myanmar’s capital, Mandalay, sleeping on the roadside following the quake. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
