Yangon: The death toll from a powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake in Myanmar jumped to over 1,000 on Saturday as Thailand searches for trapped workers. In neighbouring Thailand, at least nine were killed and up to 100 workers remain unaccounted for after a skyscraper under construction in Bangkok, the capital, collapsed.
According to Ethiopian News Agency, foreign rescue teams began flying into Myanmar to assist in the search for survivors from the earthquake, which has claimed the lives of more than a thousand people in the Southeast Asian nation. At least 1,002 individuals were reported dead and nearly 2,376 injured in Myanmar’s Mandalay region, which is the country’s second-largest city and close to the quake’s epicentre, as confirmed by the military government in a statement on Saturday.
In Bangkok, located approximately 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) from the earthquake’s epicentre in Myanmar, about 10 additional deaths have been confirmed. Myanmar’s military government stated that infrastructure such as r
oads, bridges, and buildings were affected, leading to casualties and injuries among civilians. Search and rescue operations are currently being conducted in the impacted areas. The death toll increased significantly from an earlier report of 144 deaths.
The shallow 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck northwest of the city of Sagaing in central Myanmar early afternoon on Friday, followed minutes later by a 6.7-magnitude aftershock.