Gladness Gideon
The death toll from Myanmar’s devastating earthquake has surged past 3,000, with hundreds still missing as aid workers face mounting challenges, including forecasts of unseasonal rainfall in the hardest-hit areas.
FIRST NEWS reports that the 7.7-magnitude earthquake that struck last Friday is one of the strongest recorded in Myanmar in a century. The disaster has devastated a region home to 28 million people, leveling entire communities and leaving thousands without access to food, water, or shelter.
Myanmar’s embassy in Japan confirmed on Wednesday that the number of fatalities had reached 3,003, with 4,515 injured and 351 people unaccounted for. Despite extensive rescue efforts, authorities fear the toll could rise further as search teams continue to pull bodies from the debris.
Rescue operations now face a fresh obstacle, as meteorologists warn of heavy rain expected between April 7 and 11. The anticipated downpours pose a significant risk to regions already struggling with destruction, particularly Mandalay, Sagaing, and the capital, Naypyidaw. Aid workers fear that survivors trapped under collapsed buildings may drown if the rain intensifies before they are reached.
“Rain is incoming and there are still so many buried,” said an aid worker from Myanmar.
“In Mandalay, especially, if it starts to rain, people who are buried will drown even if they’ve survived until this point.”
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Despite the worsening humanitarian crisis, Myanmar’s military junta leader, Min Aung Hlaing, is set to leave the disaster-hit country on Thursday for a regional summit in Bangkok. His departure marks a rare foreign visit for the general, who remains an international pariah under Western sanctions and an ongoing investigation by the International Criminal Court.
International aid efforts have been mobilized, with Myanmar’s embassy in Japan reporting 53 airlifts of supplies and the arrival of over 1,900 rescue workers from 15 countries, including China, India, Russia, and several Southeast Asian neighbors.
However, logistical challenges, limited infrastructure, and the country’s ongoing civil conflict continue to hinder relief operations.
As Myanmar grapples with one of its deadliest earthquakes in modern history, survivors and aid workers alike brace for worsening conditions, hoping to reach those still trapped before time and weather run out.