The death toll from last week's massive earthquake in Myanmar has surpassed 2.000, state media reported today, with rescue workers and an activist group saying that mosque collapses killed several hundred Muslim worshippers and that the collapse of a monastery killed 270 Buddhist monks.
The earthquake could worsen famine and epidemics in the Asian country, which is already one of the most challenging places in the world for humanitarian organizations to work due to civil war, these organizations and the United Nations warn.
A magnitude 7,7 earthquake struck near Mandalay, Myanmar's second-largest city, on Friday, damaging the city's airport, roads and hundreds of buildings along a wide swath of the country's central region.
Efforts to provide relief are further hampered by power outages, fuel shortages and chaotic communications.
A lack of heavy machinery is slowing down the search and rescue effort, with many digging through the rubble by hand in search of survivors in daytime temperatures that exceed 40 degrees Celsius.
The excavation of the remains of about 150 monks who died when the building collapsed on them is still ongoing at the collapsed U Hla Thein Monastery in Mandalay, rescuers said.
About 700 Muslim worshippers attending Friday prayers were killed when mosques collapsed on them, Muslim religious leaders said, adding that about 60 mosques were damaged or destroyed in the earthquake.
Videos posted on the Irrawaddy news website document the demolition of several mosques.
It is not known whether these figures include official balance sheets.
The leader of Myanmar's military junta, General Min Aung Hlaing, said that 2.065 people were killed, more than 3.900 were injured and about 270 were missing, state television reported.
Humanitarian agencies expect these numbers to rise sharply, as access to remote areas with cut-off communications has slowed.
The United Nations is calling for unhindered access for humanitarian workers.
The World Health Organization announced that it has data on three destroyed and 22 partially damaged hospitals.
Rescue efforts have also been complicated by the civil war that broke out in 2021 when a military junta violently seized power, overthrowing the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, leading to widespread armed resistance.
Government forces have lost control of much of Myanmar. More than three million people have fled their homes because of the fighting, the United Nations says.
The monsoon rains start in May and finding shelter from them will be a big challenge.
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