Myanmar earthquake: Death toll climbs to 2,719, Junta chief fears numbers may exceed 3,000 — latest updates

Myanmar earthquake news: Myanmar Junta Chief Min Aung Hlaing in a state-wide televised address said that the death toll from last week's 7.7 magnitude earthquake that shook Myanmar, Thailand and even parts of China, has claimed at least 2,719 lives, according to a Reuters report.

Hlaing added that the death toll may exceed 3,000, it added. The quake was the strongest in Southeast Asia in over a century, and wrecked devastation on modern buildings and ancient pagodas.

Myanmar Earthquake: Over 2,700 Dead, What About the Injured and Missing?

• Hlaing further said that the devastating earthquake has left 4,521 people injured and 441 others are still missing.
• According to aid groups, the worst-hit areas have urgent need for food and water, but the country's civil war is hindering efforts.
• As per the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, around 50 children and two teachers were killed when their pre-school in the Mandalay area collapsed. “In the hardest-hit areas ...communities struggle to meet their basic needs, such as access to clean water and sanitation, while emergency teams work tirelessly to locate survivors and provide life-saving aid,” the statement read.
• According to the International Rescue Committee, Mandalay and its surrounding areas, at the epicentre of the earthquake, have urgent requirement of food, water, medical help, and shelter. “Having lived through the terror of the earthquake, people now fear aftershocks and are sleeping outside on roads or in open fields,” an IRC worker said.
• Amnesty International's Myanmar researcher Joe Freeman said the junta needed to allow aid to reach areas of the country not under its control. “Myanmar's military has a longstanding practice of denying aid to areas where groups who resist it are active. It must immediately allow unimpeded access to all humanitarian organisations and remove administrative barriers delaying needs assessments,” Freeman said.

Bangkok Earthquake: Hope Dims for Survivors Under Collapsed Skyscraper

Meanwhile, in Bangkok, rescuers were still looking through ruins of an unfinished skyscraper that collapsed, but acknowledged that finding survivors after four days is against all odds.

“There are about 70 bodies underneath ... and we hope by some miracle one or two are still alive,” volunteer rescue leader Bin Bunluerit told Reuters at the building site.

Bangkok Deputy Governor Tavida Kamolvej said six human-shaped figures had been detected by scanners, but there was no movement or vital signs. Local and international experts were now working out how to safely reach them, she added.

Thailand's national death toll from the quake stands at 20. The confirmed death toll is 13, with 74 people still missing.

(With inputs from Reuters)