Rain adds to challenge for Myanmar quake relief; death toll at 3,471

BANGKOK – Rain fell on parts of earthquake-hit Myanmar over the weekend, which aid agencies said could complicate relief efforts and raise the risk of disease as the United Nations aid chief said more tents were needed to shelter those left homeless.

The death toll from the

powerful quake that struck on March 28

rose to 3,471, state media reported, with 4,671 people injured and another 214 still missing.

Aid agencies have warned that the combination of the unseasonable rain and extreme heat could cause outbreaks of disease, including cholera, among quake survivors who are camping in the open.

“Families sleeping outside the ruins of their homes while bodies of loved ones are pulled from rubble. Real fear of more quakes,” visiting UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said in a post on X.

“We need to get tents and hope to survivors as they rebuild their shattered lives,” he said, adding that strong, coordinated action was the key to saving as many lives as possible.

Myanmar’s neighbours, such as China, India and South-east Asian nations, are among those that have

dispatched relief supplies and rescuers

to aid the recovery effort in quake-hit areas that are home to about 28 million people.

The US, which was until recently the world’s top humanitarian donor, has pledged at least US$9 million (S$12 million) to Myanmar to support earthquake-affected communities, but current and former US officials say the dismantling of its foreign aid programme has affected its response.

Three US Agency for International Development (USAiD) workers

who had travelled to Myanmar after the quake were told they were being let go, Ms Marcia Wong, a former senior USAiD official, told Reuters.

“This team is working incredibly hard, focused on getting humanitarian aid to those in need. To get news of your imminent termination – how can that not be demoralising?” Ms Wong said. 

In neighbouring Thailand, at least 16

died at the site of a skyscraper in Bangkok

that collapsed while under construction, with three bodies recovered early on April 6. Over 70 are still missing there.

Ceasefire breaches

Myanmar’s military has struggled to run the country since overthrowing the government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021. This has left the economy and basic services, including healthcare, in tatters, a situation exacerbated by the quake.

The civil war that followed has displaced more than three million people, with widespread food insecurity and more than a third of the population in need of humanitarian assistance, the UN says.

While a ceasefire was declared on April 2, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said on April 4 that the junta was restricting aid in areas that did not back its rule. It also said it was investigating reported attacks by the junta against opponents, including after the ceasefire.

A junta spokesperson did not respond to calls seeking comment.

Free Burma Rangers, a relief group, told Reuters on April 5 that the military had dropped bombs in Karenni and Shan states on April 4 and 5 despite the ceasefire announcement, killing at least five people.

The victims included civilians, according to the group’s founder David Eubank, who said there had been at least seven such military attacks since the ceasefire. REUTERS