Death toll climbs to 3,471 in Myanmar earthquake

By Anadolu staff

ANKARA (AA) - The death toll from a massive earthquake in Myanmar has climbed to 3,471, as search and rescue teams continue to find more bodies, state media reported Sunday.

The magnitude 7.7 quake that struck March 28 also injured 4,671 victims and left 214 missing as of Saturday, The Mirror newspaper reported.

About 653 people trapped under the rubble of buildings have been rescued by local and international rescue teams, while 682 bodies have been retrieved from the debris.

The UN's top aid official, Tom Fletcher, who met victims in the central city of Mandalay, situated near the epicenter of the quake, described the situation as "staggering," and urged the international community to "stand behind the people of Myanmar."

Aid groups fear that a combination of unseasonable rains and extreme heat could cause outbreaks of disease, including cholera, for survivors who are camping in the open.

"Families sleeping outside the ruins of their homes while bodies of loved ones are pulled from rubble. Real fear of more quakes," Fletcher wrote on X.

In neighboring Thailand, the death toll from the quake has risen to 24, with 77 missing.

*Writing by Aamir Latif