The death toll from a major earthquake in Myanmar has risen above 3,300 as the United Nations aid chief made a renewed call for the world to help the disaster-struck nation.
The magnitude 7.7 quake that struck the Southeast Asian nation on March 28 resulted in 3,354 deaths and 4,508 people injured, with 220 others missing, according to new figures published by state media on Saturday.
A top aid official of the United Nations, Tom Fletcher, who met with victims in the central Myanmar city of Mandalay, situated close to the epicentre and now grappling with severe damage across the city, described the destruction as “staggering”.
In a post on X, Fletcher praised humanitarian and community groups who led the response to the quake with “courage, skill and determination”.
“Many themselves lost everything, and yet kept heading out to support survivors,” Fletcher said.
Several leading armed groups fighting the military have suspended hostilities during the quake recovery, but the military government chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, promised to continue “defensive activities” against “terrorists”.
The UN, other rights groups and foreign governments have urged all sides in Myanmar’s civil war to stop fighting and focus on helping those affected by the earthquake, the biggest to hit the country in decades.
