BANGKOK (AP) - Long-term efforts to find survivors of the devastating earthquake on March 28 in Myanmar were diminishing on Monday as rescue efforts were replaced by relief and recovery tasks. The death toll from the disaster exceeded 3,500 and continued to rise.
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In the capital, Naypyidaw, people were clearing debris and collecting wood from their damaged homes under a light rain, while soldiers were removing debris from some Buddhist monasteries.
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Myanmar’s Fire Services Department said on Monday that rescue teams had recovered ten bodies from the rubble of a collapsed building in Mandalay, the second largest city in Myanmar.
The firefighters pointed out that the international rescuers from Singapore, Malaysia, and India had returned to their countries after their work to find survivors was considered completed. The number of rescue teams operating in the residential areas of Naypyidaw has been gradually decreasing.
The magnitude 7.7 earthquake affected a wide swath of the country, causing significant damage in six regions and states. The earthquake left many areas without electricity, phone or cell connections, and damaged roads and bridges, making it difficult to assess the full extent of the disaster.
The heavy rains and winds disrupted rescue and relief operations on Saturday night and increased the misery of those who were left homeless, forced to sleep outdoors. The weather forecast for this week indicated the possibility of scattered showers and thunderstorms throughout the country.
Meanwhile, the military government of Myanmar and its opponents on the battlefield have accused each other of violating the ceasefire that each had declared to facilitate relief efforts following the earthquake.
Myanmar has been in crisis since the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021, leading to nationwide peaceful protests that escalated into armed resistance and what is now a civil war.
Although the military government and its armed opponents declared temporary unilateral ceasefires, reports of ongoing fighting are widespread. The Army has been particularly singled out for continuing with air strikes, according to independent media outlets in Myanmar and eyewitnesses.
Independent confirmation of the fighting is difficult due to the remoteness of the areas where much of it occurs and restrictions on journalists.
The Three Brothers Alliance, a trio of powerful guerrilla armies of ethnic minorities, declared a temporary unilateral ceasefire on April 1, following an earlier statement from the Opposition National Unity Government, or NUG.
The NUG, which leads the pro-democracy resistance, said that its armed wing, the People’s Defense Force, would cease offensive actions for two weeks.
On Wednesday night, the army announced a similar unilateral ceasefire, as did another rival ethnic minority group, the Kachin Independence Organization.
All parties reserved the right to act in self-defense.
The Ta’ang National Liberation Army, or TNLA, a member of the powerful Three Brotherhood Alliance, denounced in a statement on Sunday on the messaging platform Telegram that the Army carried out airstrikes, which included the launching of toxic gas bombs, in villages that the guerrilla group occupied last year in the northern part of Shan state.
Another member of the alliance, the Arakan Army, fighting in the western state of Rakhine, said on Saturday night that the Army continued to attack its forces with daily counterattacks and bombardments that included planes and ships in two municipalities in Rakhine state, as well as in the Ayeyarwady and Bago regions.
The group said it had occupied a military base that it had besieged on a strategic hill in Bago the day after declaring a ceasefire, but it honored its terms by not attacking the retreating soldiers of the Army.
The National Unity Government in hiding accused the Army on Saturday of carrying out 63 air and artillery attacks since the earthquake that killed 68 civilians, including a child and 15 women.
However, Major General Zaw Min Tun, spokesperson for the military government, said in an audio message to journalists on Saturday night that groups in the Three Brotherhood Alliance and the Kachin Independence Army, as well as the Karen National Union in southeastern Myanmar and pro-democracy forces in the central Magway region, and other groups violated the ceasefires by attacking the Army.
“We are carrying out relief and assistance efforts for the people affected by the earthquake. I am saying this so that everyone is aware of the ceasefire violations at a time like this,” said Zaw Min Tun.