«We are taking people with our own hands»: despair in Myanmar after powerful earthquake that leaves thousands of victims

The shock among the inhabitants of Myanmar was strong this Friday after the earthquake of magnitude 7.7 that shook the Asian country.

By bbc world

The epicenter was located 16 km northwest of Sagaing, near the city of Mandalay, and also felt in parts of China and Thailand, where a building under construction was collapsed.

A man who was part of a rescue group composed of volunteers was desperate to get machinery to reach people trapped under debris in the area of ​​the city of Mandalay.

«We are drawing people with our own hands. It is not enough to get the bodies and people who are trapped under the rubble, ”he told the BBC.

The last report of the Myanmar military leader, Min Aung Hlaing, on Saturday morning at least 1,002 people died and more than two thousand were injured until that moment, but they are feared that the figures can increase.

Because Myanmar is governed by a military board since the 2021 coup d’etat, victims information has been limited.

A Mandalay teacher told the BBC Burmano service that was in an school office with other teachers when the first tremor occurred.

«At first we went to hide under the table, but then everything fell on us,» he said.

He said they were able to go out to a field while replicas were happening. «We could see how the school building was shaken, how the walls were cracking. It was very strong and I was very scared, ”he told the BBC.

A few hours after the earthquake he could return home, which now has the cracked walls, while several nearby buildings – including a hotel – had collapsed.

«I can hear some people cry, like mothers and friends, because their children are still inside the building. It has really been desperate to see it, ”he added.

Mandalay, the commercial city of Myanmar, together with the regions of Sagaing, Bago, Naypyidaw and Magway, as well as the northeast of the Shan state, have been declared in a state of emergency.

Buildings such as hospitals, hotels, schools and homes have collapsed in many neighborhoods, and rescue teams have had difficulties in finding survivors.

«We need help»

A journalist based in Mandalay declared that, after the earthquake, they continued to shake the city with less intensity.

«There are very few survivors of collapsed buildings. There are not many rescue workers. The answer is very slow, which means that there are many deaths, ”he said.

«I can see the sadness on everyone’s face. I have to see people suffer, ”said the journalist.

«It has really been one of the worst moments of my life. This earthquake has been a disaster. We need help.

Another person, who was in the old Shwe PHo Shein mosque in Mandalay when the building collapsed, said people «barely managed to escape.»

«The whole mosque collapsed and there is nothing to save. There are many dead and missing, and many more under the rubble, ”lamented the witness.

A resident in the state of Shan, near the city of Mandalay, said they were on the street when the earthquake occurred.

«I have no words. We alone hear the sirens everywhere, we do not know what magnitude is the impact, ”he told the BBC.

Guilaume D’Ancoo, a professor of English in Rangún, in southern Myanmar, about 600 km from the epicenter, said he was in the courtyard of the school with his students when the earthquake occurred and that he immediately put the young people inside to take refuge under their desks.

«You could feel how trees trembled, how the lamps moved and how they vibrated under your feet,» he added.

He said that electricity cuts have hindered contact with loved ones in Mandalay.

«We only have hopes, it is the only thing left. We feel out of control, ”he said.

The country’s military government made an unusual request for international aid, stating that humanitarian aid is needed as soon as possible.

The State controls almost all local media of radio, television, print and online, and the use of the Internet is also restricted.

And the earthquake also caused an electricity cut in several areas, which caused more loss of communication.

A country in conflict

A member of a rescue team based in Mandalay declared to the BBC that the damage is «huge.»

«The exact number of victims is not yet known, but they are at least for hundreds,» he lamented.

A doctor from the Naypyidaw General Hospital, who has 1,000 beds, told the AFP agency that some 20 people died in the place and many were injured.

As the magnitude of the destruction was knowing, the authorities declared a «area of ​​massive victims» in the general hospital of the country’s capital, Nay Pyi Taw, where patients lay on stretchers abroad, with intravenous drips hanging from makeshift supports.

The Humanitarian Organization Medical Without Borders said that the situation is «complicated» because there are «important communications cuts in some of the most affected areas.»

The head of Mission, Federica Franco, explained that the cutting of communication is doing the situation «incredibly difficult, not only to obtain information, but also to physically reach people who need urgent help.»

«Time is especially critical in situations like this, especially for those who need immediate attention,» he added.

Air traffic was also temporarily suspended in Mandalay after the collapse of several airport buildings.

Analysts claim that the humanitarian situation in Myanmar was already serious even before the earthquake, due to the civil war that was triggered after the military government took power in 2021.

The conflict has left more than 3.5 million displaced people and hunger already reached alarming levels.

The UN had alerted that almost 20 million people – a third of the population – would need help this year.

«This disaster, combined with the intensification of the armed conflict in a country vulnerable to climate change, makes civilians pay an immense price,» said Diogo Alcantara, a spokesman for the United Nations Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the country.

«And this growing humanitarian aid comes at a time of reduction of financing, which puts humanitarian organizations, including ACNUR, in an exercise of prioritization difficult to achieve.»

The blow in Thailand

The earthquake also felt strongly in neighboring Thailand, where the authorities reported at least seven dead in the collapse of a skyscraper under construction in Bangkok.

The Thai capital is about 1,000 kilometers from the epicenter of the earthquake, but the jolt sowed the panic in the populous city, where many videos recorded by the residents show how the skyscrapers of their financial center were swinging, some turned into waterfalls when the pools of their upper floors overflow.

On the site of the building under collapsed construction, rescue teams tried to find about 80 workers who could have been under the rubble.

The scene was chaotic. Wiring wires and metals protruded.

Although there were military teams and professional rescuers, it seemed that there were little chances of finding survivors.

The collapsed building, belonging to the National Audit Office, had been under construction for three years and was reduced to debris.

A worker, Adisorn Kamphaorn, was working on the sixth floor when he suddenly felt the tremor. The 18 -year -old looked at the ladder and saw a crane wobbly.

«I knew it was going to be bad. I ran out. It took a minute to collapse. Suddenly, he had smoke everywhere and everything turned black. I couldn’t breathe. He had no mask, ”he told the BBC.

The workers there are mostly Thai and Burmes.

Nukul Khemutha, 30, worked on the fifth floor when he felt the earthquake. He looked up and saw that all the floors sink and formed gaps.

«We all shouted, ‘