Mandalay, Myanmar
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Driving into Mandalay, the huge size of the damage from previous Friday’s disaster revealed itself bit by bit.
At least one developing had entirely collapsed, turning into a pile of rubble in almost every city we crossed, especially in the northern and central areas of the city. Some roads had numerous institutions that had collapsed.
Almost every building we saw had holes running through at least one of its walls, illegal to move into. Sufferers are being treated out at the major area hospital.
After the earthquake, Myanmar’s military government has stated it won’t allow foreign reporters to enter the country, so we went underground. We had to work properly, because the nation is riddled with operatives and secret officers who detective on their own people for the ruling military dictatorship.
In the face of this enormous crisis, we witnessed a persons who had very little assistance coming their way.
Nan Sin Hein, 41, who has been waiting on the street opposite a fell five-storey tower, day and night, said,” I have hope that he’s dead, even if it’s a little chance.
Her 21 year-old-son Sai Han Ha is a building contractor, renovating the interior of the tower, which used to be a resort and was being turned into an business area.
There is a chance that he’ll succeed if they can rescue him now, she says.
When the 7 7 magnitude quake struck, the middle of the tower sank into the earth, its bottom drifting at an angle over the city, looking like it could tip over at any moment.
Four different workers, including Sai Han Ha, were trapped in.
When we arrived, recovery work at the tower had not even begun, and there was no indication that they would begin right away. There just isn’t much help available on the ground- and the explanation for that is the political position in the country.
Myanmar was tense prior to the disaster, locked up in a civil war that left at least 3 people homeless. 5 million individuals. Its government has continued procedures against military rebel groups despite the catastrophe.
This implies that safety forces are also underpowered to throw their whole weight behind rescue and relief operations. We didn’t see them in large amounts in Mandalay, aside from in some key areas.
The military junta has put out a unique appeal for international help, but its uneasy relations with several international countries, including the UK and the US, has meant that while these countries have pledged aid, help in the form of manpower on the ground is now only from countries like India, China and Russia, among a dozen others.
And so far, those rescue efforts appear to have been concentrated on landmarks like the Sky Villa condominium complex, where scores of people were feared trapped, and the U Hla Thein Buddhist Academy, where scores of monks were feared to be stranded when the earthquake struck.
The structure collapsed like a “pancake,” according to Neeraj Singh, who is in charge of the Indian disaster response team at the Buddhist academy. It was layer on layer, not the other.
” It’s the most difficult collapse pattern and the chances of finding survivors are very low. But we’re still optimistic and making our best efforts, he told the BBC.
Rescuers work under a hot sun setting of nearly 40C using metal drills and cutters to cut concrete into smaller pieces. It’s slow and extremely demanding work. When a crane lifts up the concrete pieces, the smell of decaying bodies, which is already quite strong, overwhelms.
Although the rescuers identify four to five bodies, the first one still needs to be pulled out in a few hours.
Sitting on mats under a makeshift tent in the compound of the academy are families of the students. Their faces are worn out and despondent. When they learn a body has been recovered, they crowd around the ambulance it is placed in.
Others gather around a rescuer who shows them a photo of the body on his mobile phone.
As the families examine whether the deceased person is a loved one, jargon-free moments pass.
However, it is impossible to accomplish the task because the body is so disfigured. It is sent to a morgue where forensic tests will have to be conducted to confirm the identity.
The father of 29-year-old U Thuzana is one of the families. He has no hope that his son will live. ” Knowing my son ended up like this, I’m inconsolable, I’m filled with grief,” U Hla Aung said, his face crumpling into a sob.
We were unable to enter one of Mandalay’s historical sites to see the extent of the damage, including the Mandalay Palace and the Maha Muni Pagoda, which have also sustained significant damage.
Due to the oppressive environment created by the military junta, where people frequently feared speaking to journalists, making it difficult to get to all collapse sites, victims, and their families, was not easy.
Close to the pagoda, we saw Buddhist funeral rituals being held on the street outside a destroyed house. Both in their 60s, U Hla Aung Khaing and his wife Daw Mamarhtay resided there.
I shared a home with them, but I was absent when the earthquake struck. That’s why I survived. My parents are both gone in a single instant, their son said to us.
Their bodies were recovered by locals who used rudimentary equipment rather than by trained rescuers. It took two days to pull out the couple, who were found with their arms around each other.
The military government of Myanmar claims 2,886 people have died so far, but the authorities are still unable to reach all of the collapse sites, making that figure highly unlikely to be accurate. We might never learn what the actual death toll was from the earthquake.
Parks and open spaces in Mandalay have turned into makeshift camps, as have the banks of the moat that runs around the palace. As the evening came to an end, residents of the city sat outside their homes, laying out mattresses and mats.
Malaga is a city that, for good reason, lives in a world of terror. Nearly every night since Friday there have been big aftershocks. In the middle of the night, we woke up to an aftershock of magnitude 5.
However, tens of thousands of people are sleeping outside because they don’t have a place to go back.
” I don’t know what to think anymore. When I consider the earthquake’s impact, my heart still trembles when I consider that time. Daw Khin Saw Myint, 72, was with her young granddaughter by her side as she waited in a line for water. ” We ran out, but my house has vanished. I’m living under a tree. See what you see. “”
She works as a washerwoman and says her son suffers from a disability which doesn’t allow him to work.
Where will I presently reside? I’m having a lot of trouble. I’m living next to a rubbish dump. I received some clothing and rice from some people. These clothes we are wearing caused us to leave.
” We don’t have anyone to rescue us. She pleaded with “please help us,” and she cried as she did so.
No one has distributed food yet, a second elderly woman chimes in, tears streaming in her eyes. So we haven’t eaten. “”
The majority of the vehicles we saw approaching to distribute supplies were small vans carrying only small amounts of stock, either as donations from individuals or small local businesses. It’s nowhere near enough for the number of people in need, leading to a scramble to grab whatever relief is available.
In an already challenging situation, rows and rows of beds are laid out in the hospital compound for patients because parts of Mandalay’s main hospital are also damaged.
Shwe Gy Thun Phyo, 14, has bloodshot eyes and suffered a brain injury. She’s conscious but unresponsive. Her father makes every effort to give her the best possible comfort.
Families are stepping in as needed because there were so few doctors and nurses nearby to handle the rising demand for care.
Zar Zar has a distended belly because of a serious abdominal injury. Her daughter fan her while holding her up while holding her in order to relieve her from the heat.
We had to avoid being apprehended by the police or the military so we decided not to spend a lot of time in the hospital.
As the window to find survivors of the earthquake narrows, increasingly those being brought into the hospital are the dead.
Nan Sin Hein, who is waiting outside the collapsed building where her son was trapped, initially appeared skeptical, but now appears to be getting ready for what appears to be the most likely scenario.
” I’m heartbroken. My son loved me and his little sisters. He struggled to give us a fight, she claims.
Even if my son is dead, I am just hoping to see his face. I want to see his body. They must do everything in their power to locate his body, I want them to. “”
