Rescue teams are facing challenges in searching and accessing buildings in Bago Region’s Taungoo Town that collapsed in the 28 March earthquake.
Though the 7.7-magnitude earthquake had its epicentre under Sagaing City about 228 miles (367 km) to the north of Taungoo Town it still caused a lot of damage in the town. According to collated data, as of 3 April, the earthquake had killed 17 people, including six children, and destroyed approximately 100 houses in Taungoo Town.
As aid teams have yet to arrive to clear the collapsed buildings, locals have begun clearing the rubble on their own, said a woman from Taungoo Town.
Rescue teams are doing their best to search for survivors and bodies under the rubble scattered across Taungoo Town. But, a lack of necessary equipment and machinery is hindering their efforts and as of 3 April search and rescue operations had yet to begin in some of the devastated areas of the town, according to Ko Kyaw Thura, who is involved in the rescue work.
He said to KIC: “A lot of places still haven't started rescue work at all. We lack the equipment and heavy machinery necessary for effective operations. Without international-standard equipment, it's very hard for us to do our job. We urgently need a lot of help.”
According to the aforementioned woman from Taungoo Town, residents are concerned because contaminated groundwater has begun seeping out of the ground in some areas of the town. They worry that it could contaminate water sources and lead to outbreaks of diarrhoea and cholera, the woman added.
She said: “Taungoo is also facing power outages and water shortages. Locals are worried that the lack of clean water could lead to diarrhoea outbreaks. If we had enough generators, we could pump and distribute clean groundwater to the people. For now, we're sharing resources with each other. Aid groups haven't arrived yet, so we're doing everything ourselves, including cleaning up the debris.”
She also explained that people were concerned that snakes and other venomous creatures might be hiding amongst the debris.
