Rescue workers in Myanmar and Thailand were scrambling to find survivors, hours after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake hit the centre of Myanmar.
“We are digging out people with our bare hands,” a team told the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in Mandalay, not far from the quake’s epicentre.
At least 144 people have been confirmed killed in Myanmar, many more unaccounted for and hundreds injured, an Army general said, with neighbouring countries also feeling the effects of the earthquake.
In Thailand, an unfinished high-rise collapsed, leaving around 100 construction workers unaccounted for and six dead, according to Local Government officials.
Drones, sniffer dogs and diggers were searching the site for signs of life.
Myanmar has been in political turmoil since a military junta seized power in a 2021 coup.
BBC World Service reporter Kristina Volk spoke to an aid worker who said: “We are digging out people with our bare hands. It is not enough to get the bodies and people out who are trapped under the rubble.
“People are screaming: ‘Help me, help me.’ I feel so hopeless.”
Many Construction Workers Feared Dead
More than 400 workers reported for work earlier today at the building site for the headquarters of Thailand’s Auditor General’s office – but only about 300 have emerged.
At least six workers have been found dead already, Local Government said while scores remained missing – the current estimate is around 100, thought to be mostly Burmese.
The Burmese have been a staple of Thailand’s migrant workforce, as many have long sought work in the wealthier neighbouring country.
But since the Myanmar civil war began, their numbers have swelled to more than two million – many of them work in the construction sector.
Woman Gives Birth On Street After Quake Evacuation
A woman gave birth to a baby on a street in Bangkok shortly after a hospital evacuation following tremors from the earthquake in neighbouring Myanmar.
The patient was lying on a stretcher as hospital staff surrounded her and delivered the baby.
Patients from both King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital and BNH Hospital were gathered in a park, some of them were in stretchers and wheelchairs.
Hospital staff were also seen attending to patients outside of the hospitals.
