Myanmar Still in Desperate Need After Quake, Thailand Says
Quake-stricken Myanmar is still in desperate need of medical assistance, field hospitals and shelters, Thailand’s foreign minister said, stressing the importance of a coordinated regional relief effort and long-term support.
The 7.7 magnitude quake on March 28 was one of the strongest to hit Myanmar in a century, jolting a region that is home to 28 million people, toppling buildings, flattening communities and leaving many without food, water and shelter.
The military government said 3,645 people were killed in the quake, with 5,017 injured and another 148 missing. Nearly 49,000 houses and more than 2,100 government buildings were destroyed.
Thai Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa and Malaysian counterpart Mohamad Hasan met with Myanmar officials on Saturday in the quake-hit capital Naypyitaw and saw the scale of the devastation.
“What Myanmar needs is field hospitals,” Maris said in an interview late on Tuesday. “Their existing hospitals can’t operate to their full capacity due to damage from the quake,” he said.
There was also a need for temporary shelters, mosquito nets, food, water filters and clean water supplies, Maris said, with fears rising about communicable diseases among those made homeless, compounded by the intense summer heat.
