Zeyar Hun and Tessa Wong
BBC Burmese and BBC News
BBC / Neha Sharma
SOE NAY OO was an imam in Myanmar but worked for a human rights group in Thailand after fled the 2021 coup
While the call to prayer resounds in sagaing last Friday, hundreds of Muslims rushed into the five mosques in the center of Myanmar.
They were impatient to hold their prayers last Friday for Ramadan, a few days before the festive period of Eid which would mark the end of the sacred month.
Then, at 12:51 p.m. local time (06:21 GMT), a deadly earthquake struck. Three mosques collapsed, including the largest, Myoma, killing almost everyone inside.
Hundreds of kilometers, the former imam of the Myoma mosque, Soe Nay Oo, felt the earthquake in the Thai border town of Mae Sot.
In the following days, he discovered that around 170 of his relatives, friends and members of his former congregation were dead, mainly in mosques. Some led personalities in the very united Muslim community of the city.
“I think of all the people who have lost their lives and the children of the victims-some of them are young children,” he told the BBC. “I can’t hold my tears when I talk about that.”
More than 2,700 people died in the earthquake that occurred near Sagaing and Mandalay, the second city in Myanmar. The number of deaths should increase while rescuers continue to remove the bodies from the rubble.
While the region was known for its former Buddhist temples, cities also housed a large Muslim population.
It is estimated that 500 Muslims died as they prayed in their mosques, according to the figures given by the head of the country, Min Aung Hlaing on Monday.
Sagaing eyewitnesses told the BBC that the road where the mosques were, Myoma Street, was the worst stroke of the city. Many other houses in the street have also collapsed.
Hundreds of people asked for a shelter next to the road, either because they are now homeless, or too afraid to return home in case there are replicas. Food supplies would be rare.
In myoma alone, more than 60 people would have been crushed in the collapse, while the scores died in the mosques of Myodaw and Moekya. No more bodies were still withdrawn on Tuesday.
There are indications that the faithful had tried to escape, according to Soe Nay Oo, who received several reports from surviving members from his community.
He currently lives in the Thai city of Mae Sot with his wife and daughter, after having escaped myanmar shortly after a coup d’etat which took place in 2021.
There were bodies found outside the main prayer room, he said, in the area where the faithful are washing. Some were also found shaking up with the hands of others, in what looked like attempts to keep them away from the ruined building.
As provided to SOE NAY OO
The photos sent to Soe Nay Oo show the Myoma mosque in full ruins
Among the many relatives, Soe Nay Oo Lost, there was one of his wife’s cousins. His death, he said, was “the most painful thing I have endured” in his 13th anniversary as a imagination.
“She was the one who showed us the most her love,” said Soe Nay Oo. “Everyone in the family loved him. The loss is unbearable for us.”
Another cousins of his wife, a highly respected businessman who had carried out the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, also died.
“He always called me Nyi Lay (` `little brother ” in Burma) … When I married my wife, he said that we are family now and that he always treated me like his own little brother,” said Soe Nay Oo.
“He was still there for us every time we needed him. I lost those I love like brothers like him.”
Some of the close friends who died include the former assistant imam of Soe Nay Oo, whom he remembered for his strong work ethics and his remarkable talent in the recitation of the Koran.
The director of the local public school, who was also the only trustee in the Myoma mosque, also died. SOE NAY OO was recalled as a generous soul that often paid mosque programs on its own pocket.
He said that each time he heard about another person in the deceased community, he has a new wave of grief. “I feel devastated … It always comes to my mind, the memories that I cherish them.
“Even if they were not close relatives, they are the ones who have always welcomed me, followed my prayers and who prayed together.”
The fact that they are dead during Ramadan is not lost for him. “All the missing returned to Allah, I would say. They will remember martyrs accordingly,” he said.
Reuters
Other sagaing buildings, including this fire station, have also collapsed
Like other parts of myanmar affected by the earthquake, the community has trouble dealing with the number of bodies.
It was complicated by the ongoing fighting between the military junta and the resistance groups. The Sagaing Muslim cemetery is close to an area controlled by the defense forces of rebel people (PDF) and has been closed to the public for several years. The army continued to bomb certain parts of the wider sagaing region after the earthquake.
The Muslim community of Sagaing City had to move the bodies of their dead to Mandalay, crossing the Irrawaddy river using the only bridge connecting the two cities, according to Soe Nay Oo.
Their bodies are left in the largest mandalay mosque for burial. Some were not buried within 24 hours of their death by Islamic tradition.
“For Muslims, it is the saddest thing that we cannot bury our families by ourselves at the end of their trip,” he said.
The survivors tried to help the rescue, even if they face the trauma. “Some of my community told me to pray for them. To be honest, they couldn’t even describe their loss of words when I speak to them.”
It is difficult for Soe Nay Oo to be far from its old congregation. Like many other people from Myanmar who have migrated abroad, he feels the guilt of the survivor.
“If I was still the imam, at the time of the earthquake, I would have gone with them – which I can accept peacefully. Otherwise, at least I could be on the ground to do everything I can.
“Now I can’t go back. It’s painful to think about it.
SOE NAY OO began to sob. “This sad and frustrated feeling that I have at the moment, I have never felt it before in my life. I am the kind of man who was barely crying.
He adds that he has not been able to sleep for days. His concern was amplified by the fact that he has not yet heard of certain family members, including his own brothers and sisters who were in Mandalay.
SOE NAY OO has interrupted his work for a human rights group in Thailand and is currently helping to coordinate Sagaing rescue efforts – sharing all the information he can obtain from his contacts in the city.
At least 1,000 Muslims in the region have been affected who still need help, he believes.
“I don’t feel a relief that someone on the ground requires help, and I can help them.”
