Rain complicates recovery in quake-hit Myanmar as death toll rises

Rain complicates recovery in quake-hit Myanmar as death toll rises
by AFP Staff Writers
Yangon (AFP) April 6, 2025

Rain is compounding misery and presenting new hurdles for relief efforts on Sunday in Myanmar, where state media reported the death toll from a devastating earthquake has risen to nearly 3,500 people.

The 7.7-magnitude quake struck on March 28, razing buildings, cutting off power and destroying bridges and roads across the country.

Damage has been particularly severe in the city of Sagaing near the epicentre, as well as in Mandalay, Myanmar's second city with more than 1.7 million residents.

State media in the military junta-led country now say that the earthquake has caused 3,471 confirmed deaths and injured 4,671 people, while 214 remain missing.

With people either having lost their homes entirely or reluctant to spend time in cracked and unstable structures, many residents have been sleeping outside in tents.

Around 45 minutes of heavy rain and winds lashed tent cities Saturday evening in Mandalay, according to the UN Development Programme.

People and their belongings were soaked because of a shortage of tarpaulins, Tun Tun, a programme specialist at the UN agency, told AFP.

There are also fears destroyed buildings will subside and complicate body recovery efforts.

Following less intense showers Sunday morning, the temperature is due to climb to 37 degrees Celsius (98 degrees Farenheit).

"The weather is very extreme," Tun Tun told AFP, with further rain forecast.

Aid experts warn that rainy conditions and scorching heat increase the risk of disease outbreaks at outdoor camps where victims were in temporary shelter.

United Nations aid chief Tom Fletcher said that food, water, and power repairs were needed urgently, in a video filmed in Mandalay and posted to X on Sunday.

Many people in the area are still without shelter, he said, describing the scale of damage in the area as "epic".

"We need to get tents and hope to survivors as they rebuild their shattered lives," Fletcher wrote in another post.

- Ongoing attacks, aftershocks -

Myanmar has been ruled by junta leader Min Aung Hlaing since 2021, when his military seized power in a coup that overthrew the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

International efforts to provide quake relief in the Southeast Asian country of more than 50 million people have been complicated by unreliable communication networks and infrastructure heavily damaged by four years of civil war.

Even before the recent quake, the humanitarian crisis in the country was severe, with the persistent, multi-sided conflict displacing 3.5 million people, according to the UN.

The UN said Friday that since the earthquake, the junta continued to conduct dozens of attacks against rebel groups, including at least 16 since Wednesday when the military government announced a temporary ceasefire.

Fletcher held discussions with the foreign ministers of Thailand and Malaysia on Saturday for what he called a "practical meeting" centred on "strong, coordinated, collective action" to save lives in Myanmar.

Aftershocks have also continued as long as a week after the initial tremors, with a 4.7-magnitude quake striking just south of Mandalay late Friday, according to the United States Geological Survey.

Min Aung Hlaing was in Bangkok on Thursday and Friday, on a rare foreign trip to attend a regional summit that saw him meet with leaders including the prime ministers of Thailand and India.

The general's attendance at the summit prompted protest, with demonstrators at the venue displaying a banner calling him a "murderer" and anti-junta groups condemning his inclusion.

India navy delivers aid to quake-hit Myanmar
New Delhi (AFP) April 5, 2025 - India's navy on Saturday delivered hundreds of tonnes of food aid to earthquake-hit Myanmar, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met reclusive junta chief Min Aung Hlaing.

India was among the first countries to rush aid and rescue teams to its war-torn neighbour after a devastating 7.7-magnitude quake on March 28.

The death toll from the earthquake has risen to more than 3,300, Myanmar state media said Saturday.

More than one week after the disaster, desperate survivors remain without enough food and shelter.

The latest aid from India comprised 442 tonnes of food including rice, cooking oil, noodles and biscuits, the Indian embassy in Yangon said.

The consignment arrived via an Indian navy ship, INS Gharial, at Thilawa port.

Modi held a rare face-to-face meeting on Friday with Min Aung Hlaing on the sidelines of the Bangkok BIMSTEC meeting -- the grouping of the seven nations on the Bay of Bengal.

"India is doing whatever is possible to assist our sisters and brothers of Myanmar in this critical time," Modi was quoted as saying in a government statement on Friday.

India's foreign ministry said that Modi told the junta chief that there was "no military solution to the conflict", and stressed the "importance of early restoration of a democratic process through inclusive and credible elections".

Min Aung Hlaing's armed forces have ruled Myanmar since a 2021 coup, when they wrested power from the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi, sparking a multi-sided conflict.

The junta leader had issued a rare appeal for international aid following the earthquake, indicating the severity of the crisis.

Previous military regimes in the country have shunned foreign assistance even after major natural disasters.

Sri Lanka also sent a medical team and a plane loaded with supplies, many funded by donations from Buddhist temples, to Myanmar, a defence official said.

Colombo has pledged more than $1 million to help quake victims in the fellow Buddhist nation.

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