Aid rushes into Myanmar after earthquake kills over 1,600, ravages cities

BANGKOK (Reuters) -Myanmar's neighbours sent warships and aircraft laden with relief materials and rescue personnel on Sunday, as international aid gained steam after a massive earthquake ravaged much of the poor Southeast Asian nation.

At least 1,600 people have been killed and 3,400 injured by Friday's 7.7-magnitude quake, one of Myanmar's strongest in a century, its military government said.

"All military and civilian hospitals, as well as healthcare workers, must work together in a coordinated and efficient manner to ensure effective medical response," said the junta chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, according to state-run media.

The U.S. Geological Service's predictive modelling estimated Myanmar's death toll could top 10,000 and losses could exceed the country's annual economic output.

The quake jolted parts of neighbouring Thailand, bringing down an under-construction skyscraper and killing 17 people across the capital, according to Thai authorities. At least 78 people remained trapped under the debris of the collapsed building.

The deadliest natural disaster to hit Myanmar in years damaged critical infrastructure, including an airport, highways and bridges, slowing humanitarian operations, according to the United Nations.

'NO AID, NO RESCUE WORKERS'

The quake hit a nation already in chaos with a civil war that has escalated since the 2021 military coup, which ousted the elected government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and sparked a nationwide armed uprising.

The fighting has battered the largely agrarian economy of Myanmar, formerly called Burma, displaced over 3.5 million people and left essential services, such as healthcare, in tatters.

The opposition National Unity Government, which includes remnants of the previous administration, said anti-junta militias under its command would pause all offensive military actions for two weeks from Sunday.

"The NUG, together with resistance forces, allied organisations and civil society groups, will carry out rescue operations," it said in a statement.

In some of the country's hardest hit areas, residents told Reuters that government assistance was scarce so far, leaving people to fend for themselves.

The entire town of Sagaing near the quake's epicentre was devastated, said resident Han Zin.

"What we are seeing here is widespread destruction - many buildings have collapsed into the ground," he said by phone, adding that much of the town had been without electricity since the disaster hit and drinking water was running out.

"We have received no aid, and there are no rescue workers in sight."

Across the Irrawaddy river in Mandalay, a rescue worker said most operations in the country's second-largest city were being conducted by small, self-organised resident groups that lack the required equipment.

"We have been approaching collapsed buildings, but some structures remain unstable while we work," he said, asking not to be named because of security concerns.

FIELD HOSPITAL

Scores of people were feared trapped under collapsed buildings across Mandalay but most could not be reached or pulled out without heavy machinery, another humanitarian worker and two residents said.

"People are still stuck in the buildings, they can't take people out," said a resident who asked not to be named.

Hospitals in parts of central and northwestern Myanmar, including Mandalay and Sagaing, were struggling to cope with the influx of injured people, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

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

Indian military aircraft made multiple sorties into Myanmar on Saturday, including ferrying supplies and search-and-rescue crews to Naypyitaw, the purpose-made capital, parts of which have been wrecked by the earthquake.

The Indian army will help set up a field hospital in Mandalay, and two navy ships carrying supplies are heading to Myanmar's commercial capital of Yangon, said Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

Multiple teams of Chinese rescue personnel have arrived, including one that crossed in overland from its southwestern province of Yunnan, China's embassy in Myanmar said on social media.

A 78-member team from Singapore, accompanied by rescue dogs, was operating in Mandalay on Sunday, Myanmar state-media said.

(Reporting by Bangkok bureau, Shoon Naing and Wa Lone; Writing by Devjyot Ghoshal; Editing by William Mallard)