Mandalay, Bangkok – Rescue workers in Myanmar are struggling to save people trapped beneath the rubble of collapsed buildings in the country’s second-largest city, Mandalay, following the powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake that toppled buildings, brought down bridges, destroyed roads and sent shockwaves felt across the region.
Every street in the city has collapsed buildings as a result of Friday’s quake. Distraught residents are waiting outside their damaged and flattened homes and businesses for rescue crews and any assistance from the government, which has yet to arrive.
Mandalay resident Sandar Win, 45, told media how her six-year-old son was trapped under falling debris and suffered a fractured pelvis.
Sandar Win said she brought her boy to Mandalay General Hospital but they were turned away as the facility was overcrowded with victims of the earthquake.
“So we had to go to a private hospital. He is now in the operating room,” Sandar Win said. “He is our only child. My heart is dying to see my son like this.”
Shops, restaurants and teashops are closed and there are crowds at Mandalay’s petrol stations, with people in need of fuel for electric generators as power is out in the city of more than 1.5 million.
Ambulances have been seen speeding in the direction of Pyin Oo Lwin, a town situated in the scenic hills about 64km (40 miles) east of Mandalay and popular with foreign tourists and visitors from other parts of Myanmar.
Wai Phyo, a rescue worker, said search and recovery teams were doing their best but were overwhelmed by the scale of destruction and the lack of “proper equipment”.
“There are many people still trapped under the debris. We hope to get them alive but the hope is not so bright,” Wai Phyo told media, adding that communications were also a problem as they barely had phone lines and access to the internet was almost impossible.
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