By Staff Reporter
Myanmar’s military rulers say at least 1,002 people killed following earthquake that also left at least 10 dead in Thailand’s capital, Bangkok.
The death toll from a huge earthquake that hit Myanmar and Thailand has passed 1,000, as rescuers dug through the rubble of collapsed buildings in a desperate search for survivors.
At least 1,002 people were killed and nearly 2,376 injured in Myanmar’s Mandalay region – the country’s second-largest city and close to the epicentre of the quake – the country’s military government said in a statement on Saturday.
In the Thai capital Bangkok – located 1,000km (620 miles) from the epicentre in Myanmar – about 10 more deaths have been confirmed.
“Infrastructure such as roads, bridges, and buildings were affected, leading to casualties and injuries among civilians. Search and rescue operations are currently being carried out in the affected areas,” Myanmar’s military said in the statement, which raised the death toll sharply from a previously reported 144 deaths.
The shallow 7.7-magnitude quake struck northwest of the city of Sagaing in central Myanmar in the early afternoon on Friday, followed minutes later by a 6.7-magnitude aftershock.
