Since the devastating catastrophe on Friday, there had hardly been any good news from the earthquake area in Myanmar. Therefore, the customer is eagerly welcomed by the rescue of a five -year -old child, a pregnant woman and a 29 -year -old woman from the ruins of a collapsed apartment block on Monday. It occurred in the early morning before sunrise, as the Chinese embassy in Myanmar reported. Success owes itself to one of the four Chinese rescue teams who are now supposed to work in the earthquake area. “After a sleepless night,” said the message, they were able to pull the three people out of the ruins of the Sky Villa Condominium in Mandalay.
Apart from such individual reports, the overall location still appears desperate. Three days after the devastating earthquake of the strength 7.7 On Friday, the rescue work is only in the beginning. Many residents of the affected cities of Mandalay and Sagaing have so far been waiting for help. A man in Mandalay said the FAZ on Monday that the rescue teams had big problems reaching the earthquake areas. People call for heavy equipment, with which large debris could be cleared. A survivor reported the broadcaster Democratic Voice of Burma that he was waiting for a crane that could remove the debris from the house in which four relatives were buried. The man no longer had hope that his family members can still be saved. The chances of survival decrease rapidly more than 72 hours after the earthquake.
The hospitals are overloaded, the heat adds to the survivors
The rescue work is made more difficult by the fact that the earthquake areas have so far been cut off from communication. The military regime also partially blocks the way to the area of the Epi Center in Sagaing, where many resistors are active, says the man in Mandalay. According to the red cross, 70 percent of the buildings are completely or partially destroyed in Sagaing. Two bridges are broken, motorways are no longer passable due to the cracks. Many people would have buried public buildings, including many temples, pagodas and mosques.
A Malaysian rescue team had only arrived in Sagaing on Monday, according to a press report. The hospitals in the earthquake area are completely overloaded. Maximum temperatures of more than 40 degrees add the rescue workers and the survivors. The heat also accelerates the decay process of the buried corpses, which hangs a strong smell over the affected areas. This also makes it difficult to identify the deceased. The Mandalay resident reported the FAZ that the situation in the second largest city was “terrible” due to the immense destruction. He had already experienced several earthquakes in his life, but never such a strong one. Because of the many aftershocks, he spent the past three nights like most outdoors.
On Monday, other relief supplies and rescue teams from abroad should arrive in Myanmar. 50 tons of relief goods come from the neighboring India. In addition to several military flights that were supposed to bring a field hospital, two supply ships from the Indian Navy in Yangon were also expected on Monday. A first auxiliary delivery with tents, blankets and first aid kits from China was also announced. In addition to China, Great Britain and the EU, Norway, South Korea, Australia and other countries have now promised instant aid in the millions. The United States, who have reduced its international help, wanted to provide two million dollars via local partner organizations and also send a rescue team.
A problem arises from the fact that the two airports in the earthquake area in Mandalay and Naypyidaw apparently cannot yet be used again. The help must therefore be transported over the distant Yangon. The military regime has so far largely let most of the aid deliveries into the country. However, a regime spokesman excluded on Sunday that foreign journalists were allowed to travel to the earthquake area. Major General ZAW Min was justified by the lack of supply of water, electricity and accommodation in the area. The news portal “Myanmar Now” saw an occasion for concern, “with regard to the transparency of the reaction of the Junta and the true extent of the humanitarian crisis”.
So far, the help has mainly been over the official channels of the military regime. According to observers, this leads to an unjust distribution to the areas that are under their control like the retail capital built by the military. “It is becoming increasingly clear that Naypyidaw has received the most attention from the Junta, while Mandalay has received some attention and Sagaing – the epicenter of earthquake – has been largely neglected and overlooked,” writes political scientist Nyi Nyi Kyaw. In an open letter, more than 265 non -governmental organizations on Monday demanded that the help of civil society and armed resistance groups had to be distributed. It should “not be used by the military junta for its political and military purposes, manipulated or used as a weapon”.
