Naypyidaw (TDI): The death toll from Myanmar’s devastating earthquake climbed to 3,354, with 4,850 wounded and 220 missing, Myanmar media reported on Saturday, as the visiting United Nations aid chief appreciated humanitarian and community groups for leading the relief response.
The leader of the junta, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, was back in the capital Naypyitaw after a rare foreign visit to attend a summit in Bangkok of South and Southeast Asian countries, where he also held meetings separately with the leaders of Thailand, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and India.
United Nations aid chief Tom Fletcher spent Friday night in Myanmar’s second-biggest city Mandalay, near the epicentre of the quake.
H said in a statement that humanitarian and community groups had led the response to the quake with “courage, skill and determination”.
“Many themselves lost everything, and yet kept heading out to assist survivors,” he said.
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However, the international access is extremely limited, and the logistic bottlenecks and conflicts continue in many of the natural calamity-hit regions, which are hampering the disaster response.
Rights groups have requested the military regime to allow humanitarian response without restriction into affected regions, as what may impact lives is prioritized above politics.
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For Myanmar, the quake only accentuated the need for disaster preparedness and strengthening resilience in infrastructure in a country already politically unstable and economically poor.
Observers have said that the junta’s participation at the Bangkok summit and talks with other neighboring leaders will provide a yardstick for future regional support interventions whether humanitarian or diplomatic.
