The death toll from the earthquake in Myanmar has risen to 3,354, 4,850 people have been injured and 220 are missing, international media reported, citing Myanmar’s state media. The country has been in a week-long mourning since 1 April.
UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher arrived in the city of Mandalay, near which was the epicentre of the tremors.
“The scale of the devastation is staggering. People have died. Homes have been destroyed. Livelihoods have been destroyed. But the resilience of the population is incredible,” Fletcher wrote on social network X (formerly Twitter).
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said the previous day that the military junta was restricting aid deliveries to affected areas whose populations do not support its rule.
This week, the military, which has seized power in Myanmar, announced a ceasefire until 22 April to facilitate aid to earthquake victims. It came after several leading rebel groups fighting the junta took a month-long pause in fighting.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said the suspension of fighting should be accompanied by unimpeded access for rescuers and aid workers to all affected areas.
The magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck on Friday, 28 March. Most of the damage occurred in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second largest city with a population of more than one million. The tremors were also felt in Thailand, Vietnam and China.