Mandalay was the City of Gold. She is now leaning out of dead bodies

Mandalay was known as the Golden City, littered with brilliant pagodas and Buddhist funeral mounds, but the air in the former royal capital of Myanmar is now hiding from dead bodies.

So many corpses accumulated after the magnitude 7.7 earthquake last Friday near Mandalai that they had to be “cremated in stacks,” says a resident.

The death toll of the earthquake and a series of afterski has risen after 2700, with 4,521 being injured and hundreds are still gone, said the military chief of Myanmar. These figures are expected to rise.

Residents in the second largest city in the country say they have spent sleepless nights wandering the streets in despair, while supplies of food and water decrease.

The Mandalay resident, who talks about bodies who are “cremated in stacks,” lost her aunt in the earthquake.

“But her body was removed from the ruins only two days later, on March 30,” says a 23-year-old student who only wanted to be known as J.

Poor infrastructure and patchwork from civic conflict make it difficult for me to help in Myanmar, where the military has a history of suppression of the scale of national disasters. The death number is expected to continue to increase as rescuers gain access to more collapsed buildings and cut areas.

J, who lives in Mandalay's Mahaaungmay region, felt “dizzy that he was deprived of sleep,” she said.

Many residents live with tents – or nothing – on the streets, fearing that what remains from their homes will not stay against the afters.

“I have seen many people, including myself, squeezing and crying out loud on the streets,” said J.

But the survivors are still found in the city. The fire department said it saved 403 people in Mandalay in the last four days and restored 259 bodies. The real number of casualties is considered much higher than the official version.

In a television speech on Tuesday, military boss Min Ang Chobing said the death number could exceed 3,000, but US geological surveys said that on Friday, “the death rate over 10,000 is a strong opportunity” based on the location and size of the earthquake.

Young children were particularly injured in the disaster.

A local pastor told the BBC that his eight -year -old son had suddenly exploded several times in the last few days after witnessing parts of his neighborhood buried under debris in an instant.

“He was in the bedroom above when the earthquake struck and my wife attended his younger sister, so some debris fell on him,” says Ruta, who only gave his name.

“Yesterday we saw the bodies bring out of collapsed buildings in our neighborhood,” said Ruta, who lives in the Pigitagon area.

“It's very sobering. Myanmar is hit by so many disasters, some natural, some people made by man. They are all just so tired. We feel hopeless and helpless.”

A monk who lives near the condominium of the Sky villa, one of the most affected buildings, reduced from 12 to six floors to the earthquake, told the BBC that while some people were withdrawn alive, “only dead bodies have been restored” in the last 24 hours.

“I hope this ends soon. There are still many (bodies), I think more than a hundred,” he said.

The crematoriums close to Mandalai are buried while the authorities have exhausted body bags, among other supplies, including food and drinking water.

Around the city, the remains of crushed pagods and gold spies outline the streets. While Mandalay was a major Gold Leaf production center and a popular tourist destination, poverty in the city has increased in recent years, as in elsewhere in Myanmar (previously called Burma).

The earthquake last week also affected Thailand and China, but Its impact is particularly devastating In Myanmar, which is devastated by a bloody civil war, a crippled economy and widespread distribution, as the military took power in a coup in 2021.

On Tuesday, Myanmar held a minute of silence to remember the victims, part of a week of national mourning. The junta called on the flags to fly half a mast, to stop media broadcasts, and ask people to give their respect.

Even before the earthquake, more than 3.5 million people were displaced in the country.

Thousands more, Many of them young people have fled abroad To avoid forced contribution, this means that there are fewer people to help with the help of help and the subsequent restoration of the country.

Russia and China, who have helped to support Myanmar's military regime, are among countries that have sent help and specialized support.

But the relief is slow, said J.

“(Rescue teams) work non-stop for four days and I think they are a little tired. They also need rest.

“But since the damage was so extensive, we have limited resources here, it is simply difficult for the auxiliary workers to manage such mass destruction effectively,” she said.

While the junta had said all the help was welcome, some humanitarian workers reported challenges that have access to the areas affected by earthquakes.

The local media in sagling, the epicenter of the earthquake, reported Restrictions imposed by military authorities which require organizations to send lists of volunteers and objects they want to bring to the area.

Several rights groups, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have called on Junta to allow workers to access these areas to workers.

“Myanmar's military junta still refers to fear, even after a terrifying natural disaster that killed and wounds thousands,” said Bryny Lau, Asia Deputy Director of Human Rights Watch.

“The junta must break away from its horrific past practice and ensure that humanitarian aid quickly reaches those whose life is at risk in the areas affected by the earthquake,” she said.

The junta has also caused criticism for continuing to open fire in the villages, even when the country deviates from the disaster.