The earthquake in Burma left more than 1,600 dead according to the junta, experts fear a largely heavier assessment – Liberation
The macabre count continues to grow. While the morning assessment reported a thousand people killed, the junta in power in Burma evokes 1,644 dead and 3,408 injured this Saturday, March 29 in the afternoon. At least 139 people are also missing. The powerful earthquake of magnitude 7.7 which struck the region on Fridayfelt to Thailand, was followed by a magnitude 6.7 a few minutes later.
Never An earthquake of such intensity had struck Burma For decades, according to American geologists, the tremors being powerful enough to sow terror 1,000 kilometers from the epicenter, among millions of inhabitants of Bangkok where earthquakes are rarely felt.
It is for the moment the region of Mandalay, the second city of Burma of more than a million inhabitants, which is considered to be the most disaster area. Located in the north of the country, it is near the epicenter of the earthquake. More than 90 people would notably be trapped this Saturday in the rubble of a residential building, the Sky Villa Condominium, a construction of twelve floors that did not resist the earthquake, according to a Red Cross manager. One of them, a 30 -year -old woman, was miraculously out of the rubble 30 hours after the disaster.
The tremors caused scenes of chaos and desolation in Burma, where the collapse of houses, buildings, bridges or religious sites let fear a large -scale catastrophe in A country rendered exasant by the civil conflict which has lasted since the coup d’etat of the 2021 junta. The means of communication being damaged, the extent of the disaster is still difficult to assess.
But according to the analysis of the American Geological Institute (USGS), there is a probability of 35 % that the results of the victims are in a range of 10,000 to 100,000 people. « We must expect a large number of victims and significant damage, and the disaster area is probably extended« Said the American entity. This also specifies that the financial cost of this disaster could reach tens of billions of dollars, warning that this could exceed the country’s GDP.
Authorities have declared the state of emergency in the six most affected regions. The head of the junta min Aung Hlaing launched a rare call for international aid, inviting « Any country, any organization » to come and bring his help. In the past, military regimes was reluctant to request support from abroad after natural disasters.
A plane loaded with hygiene kits, blankets, food and other basic necessities landed on Saturday in Rangoun, from India. China has announced the sending of a team of 82 rescuers. France, the European Union and Indonesia have also offered their assistance, while the World Health Organization (WHO) has announced the triggering of its emergency management system. « We are going to help them (…) it’s terrible what is going on »said US President Donald Trump on Friday.
Humanitarian agencies have warned that Burma was absolutely not prepared to face a disaster of this magnitude. The civil conflict moved some 3.5 million people, according to the United Nations, which warned at the end of January that 15 million Burmese risked suffering from hunger in 2025, even before the earthquake occurred.
On the other side of the border, in Thailand, rescuers took turns overnight in search of survivors in the rubble of a building under construction of 30 floors which collapsed in Bangkok in a few seconds under the effect of tremors. The fall of the tower swallowed dozens of workers, trapped in a mountain of rubble and deformed steel beams.
Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said that ten people were killed in the Thai capital, most of them on the construction site, but warned that the balance sheet could increase. The metropolis has ordered the deployment of more than a hundred specialists to control the safety of buildings, after receiving more than 2,000 damage reports.
Update : At 2:57 p.m., with the addition of the new human assessment announced by the junta.
