Myanmar Earthquake Death Toll Now Reaches 2,8866 People, 373 Declared Missing
The death toll from the Myanmar earthquake has now reached 2,886. A total of 4,639 people were injured and 373 people were missing
This latest data was quoted by the Chinese government news agency Xinhua from the information team of the Myanmar state administration council, Wednesday, April 2.
Earlier, the United Nations agency highlighted the urgent need in Myanmar after the devastating 7.7 magnitude earthquake that hit the country on March 28, saying water, medicine, food, and shelter were severely limited.
The United Nations Humanitarian Office (OCHA) at a press conference in Geneva said the "time for response to searches is getting narrower".
"That means the number of victims affected and casualties is expected to increase," said OCHA's Humanitarian Coordinator for Myanmar, Marcoluigi Corsi.
"Residences, food, clean water, and essential household supplies are increasingly limited. Some people in affected areas spend the night in the open... because (no) electricity and no running water," said Marcoluigi.
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Representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) Fernando Thushara in Myanmar said hospitals in the country were overwhelmed by the number of patients and medical supplies were running low, and there was a shortage of clean water and fuel.
UNICEF's representative, Julia Rees, said: "The need is very large and continues to increase every hour. The time for rescue responses is running low. In all affected areas, families face acute shortages of clean water, food, and medical supplies."
Rees noted that even before the earthquake, more than 6.5 million children in Myanmar already needed humanitarian assistance, and one of the three refugees in the country was children.
"Now, this earthquake has added a new layer of crisis to encourage families who are already vulnerable to crossing their limits," he said.
He underlined that the situation was dire and the temperature in the country was very hot, so the most important need was water. He also highlighted that the water pipe and septic tank had been damaged.