The death toll from Myanmar’s devastating 7.7-magnitude earthquake has climbed past 3,000, with hundreds still missing, as unseasonal rains threaten to complicate rescue and relief efforts.
The quake which struck last Friday, is one of the strongest in a century to hit Southeast Asia, affecting 28 million people. It toppled buildings, flattened communities, and left thousands without food, water, or shelter.
According to Myanmar’s embassy in Japan, as of Wednesday, the official death toll stands at 3,003, with 4,515 injured and 351 still missing. Rescuers are racing against time to locate survivors.
The situation is expected to worsen as unseasonal rains are forecasted from Sunday to April 11, threatening areas hardest hit by the quake, including Mandalay, Sagaing, and the capital Naypyidaw.
“Rain is incoming, and there are still so many buried. In Mandalay, especially, if it starts to rain, people who are trapped underground will drown even if they have survived until now,” an aid worker in Myanmar warned.
The embassy in Japan reported that 53 airlifts of aid have been sent to Myanmar, and more than 1,900 rescue workers from 15 countries—including China, India, Russia, and Southeast Asian neighbours—have arrived to assist in relief operations.
Despite the crisis, junta chief Min Aung Hlaing is set to leave Myanmar on Thursday for a rare trip to a regional summit in Bangkok. The move has drawn criticism, given the country’s ongoing humanitarian disaster.
Min Aung Hlaing, widely regarded as a pariah by the international community, remains under Western sanctions and is the subject of an International Criminal Court investigation.
