Myanmar rescues, sign of life in Bangkok rubble raise hopes after deadly quake (2025)

BANGKOK – People were pulled alive out of rubble in Myanmar and signs of life were detected in the ruins of a skyscraper in Bangkok on March 31, as efforts intensified to find survivors three days after a massive earthquake that killed around 2,000.

Rescuers freed four people, including a pregnant woman and a girl, from collapsed buildings in Mandalay, the city in Myanmar near the epicentre of the 7.7-magnitude earthquake on March 28, China’s Xinhua news agency reported.

Signs of life were detected under the rubble of an under-construction skyscraper in the Thai capital that collapsed in the quake, Bangkok’s Deputy Governor Tavida Kamolvej said.

Rescuers were urgently working out how to access the area it came from, given three days had passed since the quake, she said.

By medical standards, realistic chances of survival diminish after 72 hours, she said, adding: “We have to speed up. We’re not going to stop even after 72 hours.”

At least 19 deaths have been confirmed in Thailand, AFP reported. But the number of fatalities could shoot up, with many remaining missing at the site of the collapsed building. Scanning machines and sniffer dogs were being used to detect signs of life.

In Myanmar, AFP reported the junta as saying on March 31 that the death toll has risen to 2,056, with more than 3,900 people injured and 270 still missing.

Three Chinese nationals are among the dead, China’s state media said, along with two French people, according to the foreign ministry in Paris.

The country has declared on March 31 a week of national mourning, with national flags to fly at half-mast until April 6.

China, India and Thailand are among Myanmar’s neighbours that have sent relief materials and teams, along with aid and personnel from Malaysia, Singapore and Russia.

“It doesn’t matter how long we work. The most important thing is that we can bring hope to the local people,” said Mr Yue Xin, head of the China search-and-rescue team that pulled people out of the rubble in Mandalay, Xinhua reported.

‘Grade 3’ emergency

The World Health Organisation (WHO) on March 30 said in its flash appeal for funds that the Myanmar earthquake was “a Grade 3 emergency – the highest level of activation under its Emergency Response Framework”.

It urgently sought US$8 million (S$10.7 million) to respond to the immediate health needs over the next 30 days.

“Without immediate funding, lives will be lost and fragile health systems will falter.”

The WHO said hospitals were overwhelmed, while the scale of deaths, injuries and damage to health facilities “are not yet fully understood”.

The agency said displacement into overcrowded shelters, combined with the destruction of water systems and sanitation infrastructure, had sharply increased the risk of communicable disease outbreaks.

“This earthquake strikes amid an already dire humanitarian context marked by widespread displacement, fragile health systems, and disease outbreaks – including cholera,” it said.

“Immediate health needs include trauma and surgical care, blood transfusion supplies, anaesthetics, and essential medicines.

“Disease surveillance must be urgently strengthened to prevent outbreaks of cholera, dengue, and other communicable diseases.”

It said the high numbers of casualties and trauma injuries were at high risk of infection due to limited surgical capacity in the country, while the underlying conditions in Myanmar meant the quake was likely to intensify the risk of disease.

The United Nations said it was rushing relief supplies to estimated 23,000 quake-hit survivors in central Myanmar.

“Our teams in Mandalay are joining efforts to scale up the humanitarian response despite going through the trauma themselves,” said Ms Noriko Takagi, the UN refugee agency’s representative in Myanmar.

“Time is of the essence as Myanmar needs global solidarity and support through this immense devastation.”

The United States pledged US$2 million (S$2.68 million) in aid “through Myanmar-based humanitarian assistance organisations”. It said in a statement that an emergency response team from USAid, which is undergoing massive cuts under the Trump administration, is deploying to Myanmar.

More misery

The quake devastation has piled more misery on Myanmar, already in chaos from a civil war that grew out of a nationwide uprising after the military coup ousted the elected government of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

One rebel group said Myanmar’s ruling military was still conducting air strikes on villages in the aftermath of the quake, and Singapore’s foreign minister Vivian Balakrishnan called for an immediate ceasefire to help relief efforts.

Critical infrastructure - including bridges, highways, airports and railways - across the country of 55 million lie damaged, slowing humanitarian efforts while the conflict - which has battered the economy, displaced over 3.5 million people and debilitated the health system - rages on.

Mandalay’s 1,000-bed general hospital has been evacuated, AFP reported, with hundreds of patients being treated outside.

Patients lay on gurneys in the hospital car park, many with only a thin tarpaulin rigged up to shield them from the fierce tropical sun.

Relatives did their best to comfort them, holding hands or waving bamboo fans over them.

The sticky heat has exhausted rescue workers and accelerated body decomposition, which could complicate identification.

“This is a very, very imperfect condition for everyone,” said one medic, who asked to remain anonymous.

“We’re trying to do what we can here. We are trying our best.” REUTERS, AFP

JoinST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.