Myanmar has declared a week of national mourning as the death toll of the country's magnitude 7.7 earthquake surpasses 2,000 people. Authorities in Mandalay and Bangkok in Thailand are working tirelessly to search for survivors, four days after the quake struck.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Treating the injured outside Myanmar's Mandalay General Hospital.
00:04This makeshift set up due to concerns buildings are not safe after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake
00:10struck the city four days ago.
00:14The country's hospitals have been overwhelmed, with at least 3,900 people injured.
00:20More than 2,000 people have now been confirmed dead by the ruling military junta.
00:25With a critical survival window of 72 hours now past, hopes are dimming of finding more
00:30survivors.
00:31Despite that, rescue workers are continuing to dig through the rubble.
00:40Teams have arrived from the U.S. to join the effort in Myanmar, alongside emergency workers
00:44from Russia and China.
00:46Neighboring Thailand has also sent first responders, on top of dealing with their own crisis due
00:51to the quake.
00:53Twenty people have now been confirmed dead in Thailand.
00:56In Bangkok, rescue efforts continue at the site of a collapsed building that was under
01:00construction.
01:02The country's prime minister visited the site along Bangkok's deputy governor, pledging
01:06additional assistance and promising to continue the search for survivors.
01:10We are not going to stop even after 72 hours.
01:13We are going to speed up the process because we want to get to them even faster because
01:17it's over the 72-hour border period.
01:21Seventy-four construction workers remain trapped under the debris, and relatives say
01:25they haven't given up hope.
01:38In Mandalay, some success.
01:40Two women, one of them pregnant, pulled alive from the rubble of a collapsed building.
01:47But responders face significant challenges, with a lack of proper equipment and access
01:52to many areas.
01:54Due to the earthquake, we have massive power outages, even in Yangon.
01:59In addition to the power outages and the communication issues, we have access issues.
02:03So the main highway to Mandalay and Naypyidaw, the most affected areas, has been cut off
02:09and the main airports are closed.
02:10The United Nations has made an urgent appeal for US$8 million in aid, while those most
02:16affected are pleading for more assistance.
02:19One survivor said he felt abandoned by authorities.
02:22After pulling himself out of the wreckage of his shop, he has had no help retrieving
02:26the bodies of his workers.
02:36Many residents are now in makeshift tents on the street, fearing aftershocks could bring
02:40their homes down on them while they sleep.
02:43As Myanmar, a country already embattled by civil war, works tirelessly to recover from
02:47this disaster.
02:49Residents here face a long wait for any sense of safety.
02:53James Lin and Rosie Greninger for Taiwan Plus.