Myanmar earthquake: Death toll rises to 1,700 as stench of rotten corpses take over epicentre Mandalay

The official death toll in Myanmar, where a massive 7.7 magnitude earthquake wreaked havoc Friday (March 28), rose to 1700 on Sunday as ill-equipped rescuers continued pulling out bodies from under the rubble in devastated cities. According to media reports, authorities in the civil war-torn nation are forced to clear debris by hand as they race against time to search for survivors.

Myanmar’s junta said in a statement Sunday afternoon that about 3,400 people are injured and other 300 are reported missing.

In the epicentre Mandalay, thousands of buildings, bridges, and vital communication lines have been toppled.

AP reports that several hundred of bodies could still be trapped under the rubble, with the chances of finding any survivors getting slimmer with each passing minute.

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In the air, the heavy stench of rotting corpses can be felt, meaning that the death toll is going to rise dramatically once the whole city is cleared in the coming weeks or months.

Hospitals overwhelmed

Poorly managed hospitals are facing a massive shortage of staff as well as necessary medicines and supplies as the staggering extent of loss to life overwhelms them.

Cara Bragg, the Yangon-based manager of Catholic Relief Services, said hospitals are not able to handle such pressure.

“It’s mainly been local volunteers, local people who are just trying to find their loved ones. I’ve also seen reports that now some countries are sending search and rescue teams up to Mandalay to support the efforts, but hospitals are struggling to cope with the influx of injured people, there’s a shortage of medical supplies, and people are struggling to find food and clean water,” she said.

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Meanwhile, foreign aid, especially from its giant neighbours India and China, have started to arrive. On Saturday, two Indian C-17 military transport aircraft landed at Naypitaw airport with a field hospital unit and some 120 personnel who were then to travel north to Mandalay to establish a 60-bed emergency treatment centre.

Focus on Mandalay and Naypyitaw

Cara Bragg said most of the relief efforts are focused around epicentre Mandalay and the capital city of Naypyitaw but not much information is available about other areas.

“We’re hearing reports of hundreds of people trapped in different areas,” said Bragg. “Right now we’re at 1,600 (known fatalities) and we don’t have a lot of data coming out but you’ve got to assume it will be increasing in the thousands based on what the impacts are. This is just anecdotal information at this point.”