The Emergency Relief Coordinator tweeted that UN teams
are being “supported by expertise across our global
network” and the UN Central Emergency Relief Fund would be
mobilised as needed.
News reports quoting sources in
the Burmese city of Mandalay, close to the epicentre of the
quake, indicate that hundreds have died. In neighbouring
Thailand more than 80 construction workers are missing,
according to the Thai deputy prime minister, with a search
and rescue operation underway.
UN chief António
Guterres sent condolences to all those in the region
impacted and underlined that the UN system is mobilising as
fast as possible in support.
‘Significant
damage’
The UN Resident Coordinator’s Office in
Myanmar told UN News in a statement that reports
indicate “significant damage” has occurred in Mandalay
state, as well as Nay Pyi Taw, Bago, Magway, Sagaing, Shan
“and possibly other areas”.
” Our thoughts
are with everyone impacted by this event…We are gathering
information about the people impacted, infrastructure
damage, and immediate humanitarian needs to guide a
response and will share more updates as information
becomes available.”
Sheela Matthew of the UN World
Food Programme (WFP) said the quake had hit
Myanmar “at the worst possible time. With one in
four in the country already facing acute food insecurity,
Myanmar just can’t afford another
disaster.”
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She said WFP has stocks of
ready-to-eat food available in warehouses “and we are ready
to respond as needed.”
Speaking from Myanmar’s
largest city of Yangon, Marie Manrique, Programme
Coordinator for the Myanmar country team of the
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent
Societies (IFRC), told journalists at the UN in Geneva that
the quake had also been felt in China, Thailand, and
India.
She said that beyond damage to buildings and
infrastructure, there was concern over potential dam bursts.
Electricity and communications have been cut off in parts of
the country.
She said the Myanmar Red Cross Society
had launched an emergency operation to help people in need
and assess the situation.
Myanmar has been in the grip
of an increasingly brutal civil war since a military coup
more than four years ago. Around 20 million people – a
third of the population are expected to need humanitarian
assistance this year. Around 15 million are projected to
face acute food insecurity during 2025.
Fighting
between junta forces and opposition armed groups has
displaced more than 3.5 million people within the
country.
Aid operation underway
Speaking for
the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, Dr.
Margaret Harris said relief efforts were underway in
coordination with country offices in Myanmar and
Thailand.
She said the agency had activated its
logistics hub in Dubai to primarily provide trauma supplies
and a health needs assessment is underway.
Babar
Baloch, for the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said that the
central and northwest parts of Myanmar had the highest
number of internally displaced people (IDPs) due to the
conflict.
Some 1.6 million IDPs out of the total 3.5
million live in these areas and the catastrophe will only
exacerbate hardships, he told
journalists.
More to come on this
developing
story…
