Myanmar earthquake death toll passes 1,700 as scramble for aid intensifies

Rescuers freed a woman from the ruins of a hotel in Myanmar, officials said on Monday, a glimmer of hope three days after a massive earthquake that killed around 2,000 as searchers in Myanmar and Thailand raced against time to find more survivors.

The woman was pulled from the rubble after 60 hours trapped under the collapsed Great Wall Hotel in the city of Mandalay after a 5-hour operation by Chinese, Russian and local teams, according to a Chinese embassy Facebook post. It said she was in stable condition early on Monday.

Mandalay is near the epicentre of the 7.7-magnitude earthquake on Friday that wreaked mass devastation in Myanmar and damage in neighbouring Thailand.

In Bangkok, Thailand’s capital, emergency crews using cranes and dog sniffers on Monday continued a desperate search for 76 people believed buried under the rubble of an under-construction skyscraper that collapsed.

Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said rescuers are not giving up despite the conventional-wisdom window for finding people alive fast approaching.

“The search will continue even after 72 hours because in Turkey, people who have been trapped for a week have survived. The search has not been cancelled,” Chadchart said.

He said machine scans of the rubble indicated there may still be people alive underneath, and dog sniffers are being dispatched to try to pinpoint their locations.

“We’ve detected weak life signs and there are many spots,” he said.

Thailand’s official death toll was at 18 on Sunday, but could shoot up without more rescues at the collapsed building site.

In Myanmar, state media said at least 1,700 people have been confirmed dead. The Wall Street Journal, citing the ruling military junta, reported the death toll had reached 2,028 in Myanmar. Reuters could not immediately confirm the new death toll.

The United Nations said it was rushing relief supplies to estimated 23,000 quake-hit survivors in central Myanmar.

“Our teams in Mandalay are joining efforts to scale up the humanitarian response despite going through the trauma themselves,” said Noriko Takagi, the U.N. refugee agency’s representative in Myanmar. “Time is of the essence as Myanmar needs global solidarity and support through this immense devastation.”

India, China and Thailand are among Myanmar’s neighbours that have sent relief materials and teams, along with aid and personnel from Malaysia, Singapore and Russia.

The United States pledged $2 million in aid “through Myanmar-based humanitarian assistance organizations.” It said in a statement that an emergency response team from USAID, which is undergoing massive cuts under the Trump administration, is deploying to Myanmar.

The quake devastation has piled more misery on Myanmar, already in chaos from a civil war that grew out of a nationwide uprising after a 2021 military coup ousted the elected government of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

One rebel group said Myanmar’s ruling military was still conducting air strikes on villages in the aftermath of the quake, and Singapore’s foreign minister called for an immediate ceasefire to help relief efforts.

Critical infrastructure – including bridges, highways, airports and railways – across the country of 55 million lie damaged, slowing humanitarian efforts while the conflict that has battered the economy, displaced over 3.5 million people and debilitated the health system rages on.

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A representative for the Canadian Red Cross says the situation on the ground in Myanmar is “still very dire and tragic.”

Canadian Red Cross operations lead Chiran Livera said teams of staff and volunteers made up of both international and local Red Cross workers were in Myanmar when the quake hit on Friday, and they have been able to distribute help, including water and shelter kits, from warehouses stationed around the country.

Speaking from Vancouver on Sunday, Mr. Livera said he’s been told transportation is a challenge due to roads and bridges being damaged or destroyed. But because the aid was spread out in different locations, he said they have been able to move it into the affected area.

Help being offered includes, water sanitation equipment, some non-perishable food, blankets, household items like kitchen sets and tents.

“Our teams are telling us that there’s bulldozers that are clearing the way, so I think there’s progress being made every hour. But still, the main challenge right now is getting assistance to people,” he said.

Global Affairs Canada said in an e-mail Saturday that there are 212 Canadians in Myanmar recorded with the Registration of Canadians Abroad service and nearly 8,000 in neighbouring Thailand, where the quake brought down a high-rise under construction in Bangkok.

The agency noted the number of Canadians registered with the service is voluntary and is not reflective of the exact number of Canadians in a certain country.

It said its Emergency Watch and Response Centre received 17 enquiries related to the earthquake as of Saturday.

“The health, safety and security of Canada’s diplomatic staff and their families has always been and remains a priority for the Government of Canada. Staff at our embassies in the region are all safe and accounted for,” the email stated.

Mr. Livera said the Canadian Red Cross has launched a fundraising effort and specialized teams are stationed in Malaysia, ready to be called in to offer technical help if they are needed.

He said the Canadian Red Cross has been partnering with the Myanmar Red Cross for about 15 years. He said the Red Cross has ambulances in Myanmar and had been able to transport injured to hospitals that were not damaged in the quake.

“What our teams are telling us is that they’re still search-and-rescue efforts almost three days in. It’s becoming more challenging, of course, the longer time goes. So that is still very much a focus of the of the entire (group of) humanitarian actors that are there, including the Red Cross,” he said.

Global Affairs said Canadians in need of consular assistance can contact the Canadian embassy in Myanmar. Help is also available from the Canadian embassies in Thailand, Laos or China.

Canadian citizens requiring emergency consular assistance should contact Global Affairs Canada’s 24/7 Emergency Watch and Response Centre.

Mr. Livera said the conflict has not impacted the Red Cross’s humanitarian efforts, adding that the Myanmar Red Cross has extensive experience working in the area.

“I think what’s also important is that, because the Red Cross is a neutral organization, it has access to areas that other humanitarian organizations don’t have access to,” he said.

“So we very much rely on the neutrality of the Red Cross to reach affected populations, and that’s exactly what we’re seeing right now.”

With files from The Canadian Press