Myanmar: Death Toll Rises to Over 1600, As 3400 Still Missing
A security official looks at a damaged building at the ThaPyayGone market following an earthquake in Naypyidaw, Myanmar, 28 March 2025. Myanmar has declared a state of emergency and appealed for international aid after a 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck the country, with tremors felt in neighboring countries. Photo: EFE/EPA/NYEIN CHAN NAING
March 29, 2025 Hour: 2:13 pm
The Myanmar’s military junta on Saturday raised the death toll to 1,644, with 3,408 injured and 139 missing, from the 7.7 magnitude earthquake that struck north-central Myanmar on Friday, according to the official radio and television channel (MRTV).
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The military government, which has held power since the 2021 coup d’état, updated the figures in the 8:00 p.m. local time (1:30 p.m. GMT) news bulletin of MRTV, raising the figure of more than a thousand deaths in the affected areas that it had communicated hours earlier.
The quake was recorded this Friday at 12:50 p.m. local time (6:20 a.m. GMT) in the Sagaing region, 10 kilometers deep, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), and with the epicenter between the cities of Sagaing and Mandalay (about 17 kilometers from both).
The Army has declared a state of emergency in six areas: Sagaing, Mandalay, Magway, Shan, Naypyidaw (where the homonymous capital is located) and Bago, where there is an active conflict between the Army and ethnic and pro-democracy rebel guerrillas.
The junta had warned today that the figures were likely to increase, while the Civil Disobedience Movement, which emerged after a coup that ended a decade of democratic transition and led the country to international ostracism, warned of the isolation of rebel areas on its X account.
“Sagaing is heavily affected, but people there have no internet access. The junta cut off internet access in many places in Sagaing and the Mandalay region, where resistance is strong,” it said.
“The situation in Mandalay is very tough. We don’t know the exact death toll, but Mandalay hosts many internally displaced people from other regions. Many are affected,” it added.
Autor: ACJ
Fuente: EFE