The number of people who are known to have died after the devastating earthquake in Myanmar has risen to more than 1600, with people in some areas telling the BBC that they were left to dig through rubble for their loved ones with their bare hands.
The sharp lack of equipment, stains from communication networks and destroyed roads and bridges also made it difficult to seek survivors.
The earthquake has leveled much of the Mandalay, the second largest city in the country. There were applause when the rescuers removed a woman alive from the remains of a 12-storey apartment block about 30 hours after his collapse, but the Red Cross says more than 90 people may still be trapped there.
In the nearby town, rescue workers found the bodies of 12 pre -school children and a teacher under a building where kindergarten.
Cracks and surface distortions to the main highway between the largest city of Yangon, the capital Ney Pei Tau and Mandalay have caused severe transport interruptions, said the UN Humanitarian Agency.
There were also a shortage of medical supplies, including trauma kits, blood bags, anesthetics, basic medicines and Tents for health workersShe said.
Although the rescue teams have been working yesterday and international assistance has begun to enter the country, the aid is yet to reach the worst affected areas and ordinary people are trying to dig survivors by hand.
Widely shared footage shows two men moving rubble to pull out a young woman caught between two concrete slabs.
The BBC talk to the locals who said people were screaming for the help of debris.
ReutersElsewhere, other rescue workers listen to signs of life. “” We can only save people when we hear them, “one said.
Earlier on Saturday, a rescue team in the town of Sintkai in the Mandalay region in Kiawsce removed a number of people trapped in the debris of a private school. Six of them – five women and one man – had died until the rescue teams arrived. The victims were students, teachers and school staff.
The lack of equipment significantly slows down rescue, a worker told the BBC Burmese: “We do with the equipment we have. We try for hours to take out a girl caught under the collapsed school.”
Another Mandalay worker told a BBC reporter in Yangon that communication was almost impossible.
“The main thing is that we have no internet lines, we have no telephone lines, so it is very difficult to connect with each other. The rescue team has arrived. But we do not know where it will go because the telephone lines are down.”
A Mandalay resident said people do everything possible in chaotic circumstances.
“There is no coordination in the rescue efforts, no one to guide them or tell them what to do. The locals had to take care of themselves. If they find dead bodies in the debris, they do not even know where to send the bodies; the hospitals are buried and cannot cope,” the resident said.
The junta has put the number of damaged buildings in Mandalay regionThe epicenter of the earthquake, to more than 1500. The interruptions of the power supply have exacerbated the situation and, according to employees who restore power, can take days.
Mandalay Airport is not functional as the slopes were damaged during the earthquake. The Military Council said it worked to resume operations and a temporary hospital, a medical aids and a shelter was created there.
SuppliedLess than 25 km (15 miles) from Mandalay in sagaing, the older than two bridges connecting the regions, completely collapsed and the more developed cracks, cutting off the access to rescue teams.
“At the moment, there are not enough people even for an emergency rescue. We cannot take bodies, there are so many people trapped. We cannot cross a single bridge, so we are all trapped in the ruins. Please help the emergency rescuers come and save us,” a local resident told BBC Burmye.
The recently built capital Nay Pyi Daw, where the military junta is headquartered, was struck by afters and small tremor. The city has observed large damage with a large number of casualties, collapsed buildings and fastened roads.
EPAMeanwhile, even while the junta makes a rare international attractiveness for help, Air strikes and drone attacks continue Against the ethnic armies and the armed groups, it fought in the four -year civil war of the country.
Burmese Burman confirmed that seven people were killed in an air strike in North Shan in the state. This strike took place around 3:30 pm local time, less than three hours after the quake.
The prodemocratic rebel groups that are fighting to remove the military from power are reported by air attacks in the city of Chang-U in the area of ​​central sagang, the epicenter of the earthquake. There are also reports of air strikes in regions near the Thai border.
The UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar's Human Rights Tom Andrews called on the junta to end the bombing attacks.
“The problem is that you still have military operations right now … military strikes from the military junta,” he told the BBC.
“I urge the junta to just stop, to stop one of its military operations. It's completely outrageous and unacceptable.”
