MANDALAY (AFP) – Myanmar held a minute’s silence yesterday in tribute to victims of a catastrophic earthquake that has killed more than 2,000 people, buckling roads and flattening buildings as far away as Bangkok.
Four days after the shallow 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck, many people in Myanmar are still sleeping outdoors, either unable to return to ruined homes or afraid of further aftershocks.
Sirens rang out at 12:51:02 – the precise time the quake struck on Friday – bringing the country to a standstill to remember those lost.
Mandalay, the country’s second-biggest city with 1.7 million inhabitants, suffered some of the worst destruction.
Outside the Sky Villa apartment complex, one of the city’s worst-hit disaster sites, rescue workers stopped and lined up with hands clasped behind their backs to pay their respects.
Officials and attendants stood behind a cordon, watching relatives further back, as the sirens wailed and a Myanmar flag flew at half-mast from a bamboo pole tied to a rescue tent.
The moment of remembrance is part of a week of national mourning declared by the ruling junta, with flags to fly at half-mast on official buildings until April 6 “in sympathy for the loss of life and damages”.
The junta said that 2,056 people have been confirmed dead, with more than 3,900 injured and 270 missing. At least 20 people died in neighbouring Thailand.
But the toll is expected to rise significantly as rescuers reach towns and villages where communications have been cut off by the quake.
More than 1,000 foreign rescuers have flown in to help and state media reported that 650 people have been pulled alive from ruined buildings around the country.
