Yogita Limaye
Mandalay, Myanmar
Bbc
Five men are still stuck under this building, including the son of Nan, 21,
Warning: this article contains details and images that some readers may find painful
By leading to Mandalay, the massive scale of the destruction of the earthquake last Friday turned out to be little by little.
In almost all the streets where we have transformed, in particular in the northern and central parts of the city, at least one building had completely collapsed, reduced to a bunch of rubble. Some streets had several structures that had fallen.
Almost all the buildings we have seen had cracks crossing at least one of its walls, dangerous to enter. At the city’s main hospital, they should treat patients outside.
The Military Government of Myanmar said that it did not allow foreign journalists in the country after the earthquake, so we went under cover. We had to operate carefully, because the country is riddled with informants and secret police officers who spy on their own people for the military junta in power.
What we have seen was a people who had very little help in their way to this massive disaster.
“I hope it is alive, even if it is a little chance,” said Nan Sin, 41, who waits on the street in front of a five -story building collapsed, day and night for five days.
Her 21 -year -old son, Sai Han Pha, is a construction worker, renovating the interiors of the building, who was a hotel and was transformed into an office space.
Nan Sin’s son, 21, is still missing inside the five -story building
“If they can save him today, there is a chance that he will survive,” she said.
When the earthquake of magnitude 7.7 struck, the bottom of the building flowed in the ground, its drop-down at a corner above the street, seeming to switch to any minute.
Sai Han Pha and four other workers were trapped inside.
When we visited, the rescue efforts had not even started in the building and there was no sign that they would start soon. There is simply not enough help available in the field – and the reason is the political situation in the country.
Watch: BBC Yogita Limaye is the first foreign journalist to enter Myanmar from the earthquake
Even before the earthquake, Myanmar is agitation – locked in a civil war which has moved around 3.5 million people. His soldiers continued operations against armed insurgents groups despite the disaster.
This means that the security forces are too stretched to put their full power behind rescue and rescue operations. Except in certain key places, we have not seen them in large numbers in Mandalay.
The military junta has offered a rare attraction for international aid, but its uncomfortable relations with many foreign countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States, have meant that if these countries have promised aid, aid for the form of labor in the field is currently only countries like India, China and Russia, among a few others.
And so far, these rescue efforts seem to focus on the structures where masses of people are fearing that the condominium complex of the high -rise villa which housed hundreds of people, and U HLA Thein Buddhist Academy, where dozens of monks have examined when the earthquake has struck.
Neeraj Singh, who leads the Indian team of response to disasters working at the Buddhist Academy, said that the structure had collapsed as a “pancake” – a layer above another.
“It is the most difficult collapse model and the chances of finding survivors are very weak. But we always hope for our best,” he told the BBC.
Rescuers face difficult conditions to recover the bodies of the victims, temperatures reaching almost 40 ° C
Working under the stifling sun, in almost 40 ° C, the rescuers use metal exercises and cutters to divide the concrete slabs into small pieces. It is a slow and extremely demanding work. When a crane lifts the concrete parts, the stench of the decaying bodies, already quite strong, becomes overwhelming.
The rescuers spot four to five bodies, but it takes a few hours to remove the first.
The families of students sit on a makeshift tent within the enclosure of the Academy. Their faces are tired and discouraged. As soon as they hear a body that has been recovered, they crowd around the ambulance in which it is placed.
U Thuzana, 29, was passing her exam to the Buddhist Academy when the earthquake struck
Others gather around a rescuer who shows them a photo of the body on his mobile phone.
The dying moments spend as families try to see if the dead is a loved one.
But the body is so disfigured, the task is impossible. He is sent to a morgue where forensic tests must be carried out to confirm the identity.
Among the families is the father of U Thuzana, 29 years old. He has no hope that his son survived. “Knowing that my son found himself like that, I am inconsolable, I am filled with sorrow,” said U Hla Aung, her face in sobbing.
Maha Muni Pagoda is one of the emblematic sites of the city that has been seriously damaged
Many historic Mandalay sites have also undergone significant damage, including the Mandalay Palace and the Maha Muni Pagoda, but we were unable to see the extent of damage.
Access to everything – collapse sites, victims and their families – was not easy because of the oppressive environment created by the military junta, with people who are often afraid of talking to journalists.
Near the pagoda, we saw Buddhist funeral rituals held in the street outside a destroyed house. It was the house of U Hla Aung Khhing and his wife Daw Mamarhtay, both in the sixties.
“I lived with them but I went out when the earthquake struck. That is why I survived. My two parents left in a single moment,” said their son.
People gather in front of the house of a couple in the sixties who were found dead
Their bodies were extracted not by trained rescuers, but by residents who used rudimentary equipment. It took two days to remove the couple, which was found in each other.
The Military Government of Myanmar claims that 2,886 people have died so far, but that many collapse sites have not even been affected by the authorities, that this count is unlikely. We may never discover what was the actual number of deaths of the earthquake.
U HLA AUNG KHHING and DAW MAMARHTAY were found with their arms in each other
Mandalay’s parks and open spaces have turned into makeshift camps, as is the shores of the moat that flow the palace. Throughout the city, we have seen people having carpets and mattresses outside their house as evening approaches, preferring to sleep outside.
Mandalay is a city living in terror and for reason. Almost every evening since Friday, there have been great aftershocks. We woke up with a replica of magnitude 5 in the middle of the night.
But tens of thousands of people sleep outside because they don’t have the house to come back.
“I do not know what to think. My heart still trembles when I think at this moment when the earthquake has struck,” said Daw Khin saw Myint, 72, whom we met while she was waiting in a queue for water, with her little-bodily by her side. “We missed, but my house left. I live under a tree. Come see.”
She works as a washer and says that her son suffers from a handicap that does not allow her to work.
“Where will I live now?” I have so many problems. I live next to a discharge. Some people gave me rice and some clothes. We have run in these clothes that we wear.
“We have no one to save ourselves. Please help us,” she said, tears running on her cheeks.
Another elderly woman breaks, her eyes tearing apart: “No one has distributed food yet. So we haven’t eaten.”
Daw Khin saw Myint, 72
Most of the vehicles we have seen to distribute supplies were small vans with limited actions – donations from individuals or small local organizations. It is far from sufficient for the number of people in need, which leads to a race to grasp any available relief.
Parties of the Mandalay Main Hospital are also damaged, and therefore in an already difficult situation, rows and rows of beds are arranged in the hospital complex for patients.
Shwe Gy Thun Phyo, 14, suffered from a brain injury and has blood injected. She is aware but insensitive. Her father tries to make it as comfortable as possible.
There were very few doctors and nurses to deal with the demand for treatment, which means that families intervene to do what medical staff should.
Zar Zar has a distended belly due to a serious abdominal injury. Her daughter sits behind her, holding her and fans, to relieve her warmth.
We could not spend a lot of time in the hospital for fear of being apprehended by the police or the military.
With a shortage of medical personnel, relatives try to help relatives injured in fortune hospitals
While the window to find the survivors of the earthquake narrows, more and more those who are brought to the hospital are the dead.
Nan Sin Hein, who waits outside the collapsed building where her son was trapped, was initially stoic, but she now seems to be preparing to face what seems to be the most likely result.
“My heart has my son loved me and his little sisters. He had trouble supporting us,” she said.
“I just hope to see my son’s face, even if he is dead. I want to see his body. I want them to do everything they can to find his body.”
