A woman has been successfully rescued alive from the wreckage of a collapsed apartment building in Mandalay, 30 hours after a devastating earthquake struck Myanmar, leaving fears of dozens trapped beneath the debris.
Rescuers were met with applause as 30-year-old Phyu Lay Khaing was brought out of the Sky Villa Condominium and carefully removed from the rubble on a stretcher.
Her husband, Ye Aung, who had been anxiously awaiting news, embraced her as she was lowered on the stretcher.
“Initially, I didn’t believe she would be alive,” Ye Aung told AFP while waiting for his wife to be recovered.
“I am overjoyed to receive such positive news,” said the trader, who shares two sons, eight-year-old William and five-year-old Ethan, with his wife.
As the ambulance departed for the hospital, Ye Aung was seen through the window holding his wife’s hand.
A Red Cross official had previously informed AFP that over 90 people were feared to be trapped under the remnants of the collapsed apartment building.
The shallow 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck northwest of Mandalay on Friday afternoon, followed by a 6.7-magnitude aftershock minutes later.
The tremors caused widespread destruction, demolishing buildings, collapsing bridges, and buckling roads throughout vast regions of Myanmar, with significant damage observed in Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city, home to over 1.7 million residents.
