Thai rescue efforts focus on collapsed Bangkok skyscraper, 76 feared trapped
A rescue worker walks during a search operation at the site of a collapsed building, in the aftermath of a strong earthquake, in Mandalay, Myanmar, on March 31, 2025.
- Rescuers race to find survivors in Myanmar and Thailand.
- Death toll above 1,700 in Myanmar, 18 confirmed dead in Thailand.
- Myanmar’s civil war complicates quake relief efforts.
BANGKOK: Rescuers freed a woman from the ruins of a motel in Myanmar, officials stated on Monday, a glimmer of hope 3 days after a huge earthquake that killed around 2,000 as searchers in Myanmar and Thailand raced against time to discover more survivors.
A Facebook post from the Chinese embassy says that Chinese, Russian, and neighborhood teams labored for 5 hours to rescue the girl from the Great Wall Hotel in Mandalay, where she had been trapped for 60 hours. Early on Monday, it stated that her condition changed to strong.
Mandalay is close to the epicentre of the 7.7-value earthquake on Friday that wreaked mass devastation in Myanmar and damage in neighbouring Thailand.
In Bangkok, Thailand’s capital, emergency crews using cranes and canine sniffers on Monday endured a desperate search for seventy-six humans believed buried underneath the rubble of an under-construction skyscraper that collapsed.
Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt stated rescuers are not giving up despite the time window for finding humans alive speeding near.
The seek will preserve even after seventy-two hours because in Turkey, people who’ve been trapped for a week have survived. The search has not been cancelled,” Chadchart said.
He said device scans of the rubble indicated there may also still be human beings alive beneath, and canine sniffers are being dispatched to try and pinpoint their locations.
“We’ve detected vulnerable existence signs and symptoms, and there are numerous spots,” he stated.
Thailand’s authentic death toll turned into 18 on Sunday, however should shoot up without greater rescues at the collapsed building site.
In Myanmar, the country’s media stated that a minimum of 1,700 human beings have been confirmed dead. The Wall Street Journal, citing the ruling navy junta, suggested the loss of life toll had reached 2,028 in Myanmar. Reuters couldn’t right away verify the brand new death toll. The United Nations stated it is speeding relief supplies to an estimated 23,000 quake-hit survivors in critical Myanmar.
“Our groups in Mandalay are joining efforts to scale up the humanitarian reaction despite going through the trauma themselves,” said Noriko Takagi, the UN refugee corporation’s representative in Myanmar. “Because Myanmar calls for international solidarity and help through this giant devastation, time is of the essence.” Myanmar’s acquaintances have also sent useful resources and personnel from Malaysia, Singapore, and Russia, similar to India, China, and Thailand. “via Myanmar-based humanitarian assistance companies,” the United States of America pledged $2 million in useful resources. It said in a statement that an emergency response team from USAID, which is undergoing large cuts under the Trump administration, is deploying to Myanmar.
The quake devastation has piled greater distress on Myanmar, already in chaos from a civil war that grew out of a national uprising after a 2021 military coup ousted the elected authorities of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
One rebel institution stated Myanmar’s ruling military was nonetheless undertaking airstrikes on villages within the aftermath of the quake, and Singapore’s foreign minister referred to as for an immediate ceasefire to help remedy efforts.
The fifty-five million-character country’s important infrastructure, which incorporates bridges, highways, airports, and railways, has been damaged, slowing down humanitarian efforts as the battle that has destabilized the health machine, displaced over three. Five million humans harmed the economic system.