BANGKOK – Rescuers in Myanmar and Thailand continued their search for survivors Monday, saying signs of life were still being detected following the 7.7 magnitude quake that rocked both countries three days earlier.
Aftershocks were still being felt in the Burmese cities of Mandalay and Naypyidaw as well as the Thai capital Bangkok, although no additional damage was reported.
In Myanmar at least 1,700 people were confirmed dead, the junta announced on Monday, with more than 300 missing. Around 3,400 people were also injured, according to junta spokesman Major Gen. Zaw Min Tun.
Independent Myanmar media outlet Democratic Voice of Burma put the death toll at 2,928 as of Sunday night.
In Myanmar’s second-largest city, Mandalay, near the quake epicenter , three people, including a pregnant woman and a 5-year old child were pulled from the rubble of the Sky Villa condominium in the early hours of Monday morning by a Chinese rescue team, the country’s embassy said on Facebook.
A woman was also found alive after 60 hours in the wreckage of the Great Wall hotel by Chinese and Russian rescuers.
Signs of life after Bangkok building collapse
In Bangkok, multinational rescuers, including the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, used K-9 dogs and electronic sensors to detect signs of life in the rubble of a 30-story building.
According to the rescue center at the site of the collapsed state audit office near Chatuchak Park, as of 8 a.m. on Monday, 76 people remained missing, 11 were confirmed dead with nine injured. A woman’s body was brought out of the rubble mid-afternoon, bringing the death toll to 12.
The search was continuing beyond the conventional 72-hour window for finding survivors, Bangkok Gov. Chadchart Sittipunt said, saying signs of life had been detected Monday morning.
Thailand’s labor ministry said it would give 1.73 million baht (US$51,000) to families for each of the construction workers – many foreign nationals - who died in the collapse.
On Sunday, Thailand’s Industry Minister Akanat Promphan inspected the scene and collected samples of reinforced steel beams to check the quality of the girders that failed to support the building when the quake struck early Friday afternoon.
Akanat said he would not jump to conclusions but was “stunned” by what he saw.
“I saw something wrong,” Akanat told reporters. “Only one building collapsed. I guess the public can tell the reason why.”
He added the majority of the steel was from a single manufacturer and samples had been sent to a laboratory at the Iron and Steel Institute of Thailand for testing.
The cause of the building collapse could stem from flawed materials, poor design or bad construction, the minister said.
The contractor was a Thai-Chinese joint venture between Bangkok-based Italian Thai Development PCL and China Railway Number 10 (Thailand) Co., Ltd., according to a document seen by Radio Free Asia.
Over the weekend the police arrested four Chinese staff members who were trying to remove documents from the office. Bangkok’s governor had declared a state of disaster on Friday, and Thailand’s disaster laws prohibit the removal of evidence.
Thailand’s meteorological department said six aftershocks were felt across Thailand on Monday, ranging from 2.5 to 3.7 magnitude. The national government ordered some offices in Bangkok to evacuate, with staff told to work from home.
Aftershocks hit Myanmar as airstrikes continue
Aftershocks continued to hit areas in Myanmar already rocked by last week’s quake, according to the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management of the shadow National Unity Government, or NUG.
It said a 5.1 magnitude shock was felt in Myanmar’s administrative capital of Naypyidaw at noon on Sunday, one of 4.1 magnitude hit Shwebo township in Sagaing region earlier in the day. A third of 5.1 magnitude hit Sagaing town, the capital of Sagaing region, on Monday morning.
The junta, which overthrew Myanmar’s democratically elected government in February 2021, has declared a state of emergency in all affected areas of the country following the earthquake.
But people living in affected areas posted on social media that junta troops delayed rescue operations, prohibiting residents and volunteers from searching for those trapped under rubble after 10 p.m.
“Low-profile emergency relief and response” are urgently needed for fear of volunteers being arrested by junta troops, the NUG said, adding that drinking water, food, shelter and skilled expertise in rescue operations and infrastructure were urgently needed.
Airstrikes on the heavily-impacted Sagaing region and other parts of the country have also slowed rescue operations, according to opposition groups in impacted areas.
The NUG estimated major damage to over 13,000 homes and 200 religious buildings, with over 1,550 injuries.
Translated by Kiana Duncan. Edited by Mike Firn and Taejun Kang.