The death toll from the March 28 deadly earthquake in Myanmar rose to 2,056, with over 3,900 people injured and nearly 270 others missing, the ruling junta was quoted as saying by news agency AFP on Monday, March 31.
Rescuers continued to scramble through the debris of collapsed buildings as the junta declared a week of national mourning in honour of those who died in the shallow 7.7 magnitude earthquake in the country.
Mandalay is near the epicentre of the 7.7-magnitude earthquake on March 28 that wreaked mass devastation in Myanmar and damage in neighbouring Thailand, including its capital Bangkok.
In Bangkok, emergency crews on March 31 resumed a desperate search for 76 people believed buried under the rubble of an under-construction skyscraper that collapsed, according to news agency Reuters.
After nearly three days, fears were growing that the rescuers would find more dead bodies, which could sharply raise Thailand’s death toll, which stood at 18 on Sunday.
Several countries, including India and international organisations, such as the UN, have rushed tonnes of relief supplies to an estimated 23,000 quake-hit survivors in Myanmar, already in chaos due to a civil war.
