BBC finds huge devastation and little help with Mandalay survivors

Warning: This article contains details and images that some readers may find disturbing

Moving to Mandalay, the massive scale of the destruction of the earthquake on last Friday was revealed little by little.

In almost every street we turned to, especially in the north and central part of the city, at least one building was completely collapsed, reduced to a pile of ruins. Some streets had many structures that had come down.

Almost every building we saw, there were cracks that pass through at least one of its walls, dangerous to step. At the General City Hospital, they should treat patients outdoors.

Myanmar’s military government said it did not allow foreign journalists in the country after the earthquake, so we entered undercover. We had to work carefully because the country is obsessed with informants and secret police who spy on their own people for the ruling military junta.

What we witnessed was a people who had very little help that came in the face of this large -scale disaster.

“I have hope that he is alive, even if he is a small chance,” said 41-year-old Nan Son Hein, who was waiting on the street against the brutal five-story building, day and night for five days.

Her 21-year-old son Sai Han Fa was a construction worker, renovating the interior of the building, which was previously a hotel and turned into an office space.

“If they can save him today, he is likely to survive,” she says.

When a magnitude 7.7 earthquake was struck, the bottom of the building sank into the ground, with its most gained angled over the street, it seemed that it could return at any minute.

Sai Han Fa and four other workers were trapped.

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 on the spot – and the reason for this is the political situation in the country.

Even before the earthquake, Myanmar was in turmoil – locked in a civil war that displaced approximately 3.5 million people. His military continues to act against armed rebels, despite the disaster.

This means that security forces are too stretched to put their full power for relief and rescue operations. With the exception of some key places, we didn’t see them in a large number in Mandalay.

The military junta postponed a rare appeal to international assistance, but his restless relations with many foreign countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States, means that while these countries have promised help, help in the form of labor on the spot is only from countries such as India, China and Russia, among several others.

And so far, these rescue efforts seem to be focused on structures where masses of people are afraid in a trap-high-quality condominium complex of Sky Villa, which was home to hundreds of people, and U hla thein buddhist academy, where dozens of monks were passing when the earthquake was hit.

Nery Singh, who leads the Indian disaster response team working at the Buddhist Academy, said the structure had collapsed as a “pancake” – one layer on top of another.

“This is the most difficult model of collapse and the chances of finding survivors are very low. But we still hope to try to try,” he told the BBC.

Working under the invading sun, at nearly 40 ° C, rescuers use metal workouts and cutters to break the concrete slabs into smaller pieces. This is a slow and extremely demanding job. When the crane raises the concrete pieces, the stench of the disintegrating bodies, already quite strong, becomes impossible.

Rescuers notice four to five bodies, but it still takes a few hours to pull the first one out.

Sitting on mats under a makeshift tent in the Academy’s Union are students’ families. Their faces are tired and desperate. As soon as they hear that the body has been restored, they crowd around the ambulance in which it is placed.

Others gather around a savior showing them a picture of his cell phone body.

The agonizing moments pass as families try to see if the dead is a loved one.

But the body is so disfigured, the task is impossible. It is sent to Morga, where forensic tests will have to be conducted to confirm the identity.

Among the families is the father of the 29-year-old U Thuzana. He has no hope that his son survived. “Knowing that my son ended up like that, I’m unclear, I’m filled with grief,” said U Hla Aung, his face fell into sobs.

Many of Mandalay’s historical sites have also suffered significant damage, including the Mandalay Palace and the Pagoda Mauni Muni, but we could not enter to see the degree of damage.

Access to everything – collapse sites, victims and their families – was not easy because of the depressing environment created by the military junta, with people often afraid to talk to journalists.

Near the pagoda, we saw Buddhist funeral rituals held on the street in front of a destroyed house. It was the home of U Hla Aung Khaing and his wife, Daw Mamarhtay, both of their sixties.

“I lived with them, but I was out when the earthquake struck. That’s why I survived. Both my parents disappeared at one point,” their son told us.

Their bodies were extracted not from trained rescuers, but from locals who used rudimentary equipment. It took two days to pull out the couple, which was found with hands around another.

Myanmar’s military government says 2886 people have been killed so far, but so many seats have not yet been reached even by the authorities that it is unlikely to be accurate. We may never understand what the real death of the earthquake was.

The parks and outdoor spaces in Mandalay have become improvised bearings, as well as the shores of the moat that goes around the palace. Throughout the city, we saw people who lay mattresses and mattresses outside their homes when it was approaching in the evening, preferring to sleep outdoors.

Mandalay is a city living in terror and for good reason. Almost every night since Friday, there are great afters. We woke up to magnitude 5 in the middle of the night.

But tens of thousands sleep outdoors because they do not have a home to return.

“I no longer know what to think. My heart is still shaking when I think of the moment when the earthquake struck,” said Dow Hin saw the 72 -year -old Mine, whom we met while she was waiting in a queue for water, with her little granddaughter next to her. “We were running out, but my house is gone. I live under a tree. Come and look.”

She works as a raccoon and says that her son is suffering from a disability that prevents him from working.

“Where will I live now? I’m in so many problems. I live to a garbage dump. Some people gave me rice and a few clothes. We ran into those clothes we wear.

“We have no one to save us. Please help us,” she said, tears rolling on her cheeks.

Another elderly woman rings, her eyes, tearing, “No one has spread food today. So we haven’t eaten.”

Most of the vehicles we saw were pulling for supply were small vans with limited stocks – donations from individuals or small local organizations. This is not close enough for the number of people in need, leading to a struggle to take any relief.

Parts of Mandalay’s main hospital are also damaged, so in a difficult situation, rows and bed rows are exposed in the hospital compound for patients.

The 14 -year -old Shwe Gy Thun Phyo has suffered from brain trauma and has bloody eyes. She is conscious but not reachable. Her father is trying to make her as comfortable as possible.

There were very few doctors and nurses around to deal with the search for treatment, which means that families are going to do what medical staff needs to be.

ZAR ZAR has a scattered belly due to a serious injury to the abdomen. Her daughter sits behind her, holds her and honors her to give her some relief from the heat.

We couldn’t spend a lot of time in the hospital for fear of being detained by police or military.

As the window for finding survivors of the earthquake narrows, more and more often those who are introduced into the hospital are the dead.

Nan Son Hein, who waits outside the collapsed building, where her son was trapped, was initially stoic, but now it seems that she is preparing to face what seems like the most common result.

“I’m broken by my heart. My son loved me and his little sisters. He struggles to support us,” she says.

“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.”