Myanmar junta chief says quake death toll rises to 2,700: reports
The death toll from the powerful earthquake that struck central Myanmar has risen to more than 2,700, with over 4,500 people injured, the country's military chief said Tuesday, according to local media reports, Kyodo reports.
As aftershocks, a shortage of heavy machinery and an intermittent supply of electricity continue to hamper search and rescue operations, junta chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing said the number of the dead is expected to exceed 3,000, adding that more than 440 people are missing, local media reported.
Rescue teams from China and Russia have started their operations in Mandalay, Myanmar's second-largest city, near the epicenter of the magnitude 7.7 quake that hit in the early afternoon on Friday. Other countries including Thailand, India and Singapore have dispatched rescuers to the quake-hit country.
Search efforts also continued in Bangkok, with the death toll in Thailand rising to 20 on Tuesday.
Many of those killed in the neighboring country were crew members working at a high-rise building under construction in the Thai capital, rescue operation agencies said, adding about 80 people are still missing.
The Thai industry ministry has launched an investigation at the site of the collapsed building as the steel used in its construction could have been substandard, according to ministry officials.
As earlier reported, the World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a warning over the potential outbreak of diseases such as malaria, dengue fever, and hepatitis following the recent earthquake in Myanmar, citing damage to water and sanitation infrastructure and limited access to clean water.