Pregnant woman rescued from Mandalay rubble after 60 hours
The Chinese embassy in Myanmar announced a successful rescue operation: a pregnant woman was rescued from the rubble of a hotel in Mandalay after 60 hours.
The embassy detailed the success of a five-hour rescue mission, during which a pregnant woman was extracted from the debris of a collapsed hotel in Mandalay. She spent 60 hours under the rubble, and her health condition was reported as good. A Chinese search and rescue team undertook the mission alongside a civilian rescue team.
Earthquake in Southeast Asia
The earthquake that hit Southeast Asia on March 28 resulted in the deaths of approximately 1,720 people, with 1,700 in Myanmar and 20 in Thailand. In Bangkok, thousands of people were evacuated from damaged structures. In Myanmar, where a civil war persists, there are concerns about hiding the true extent of the disaster.
The tremors were also felt in India, Laos, and China, but no significant damage or casualties were reported. The epicenter was near the Myanmar-Thailand border, at a depth of about 10 kilometres, which intensified the quake's impact in the area. Humanitarian organizations are raising alarms that access to affected regions is hampered due to destroyed infrastructure and military actions controlling parts of the disaster-affected zones.
Rescue operations in Myanmar
Bangkok Mayor Chadchart Sittipunt assured rescuers would continue their efforts even after 72 hours had passed since the earthquake. In Thailand, the search is ongoing for nearly 80 workers who went missing after a high-rise building collapsed in Bangkok.
Information flow is constrained in Myanmar, where the junta has declared a week of mourning. Global media mainly rely on eyewitness accounts. Despite the mourning, the junta continues airstrikes on rebel positions.
