The death toll from Myanmar’s devastating earthquake has increased to 3,354, with 4,850 people injured and 220 still missing, according to Myanmar media reports on Saturday. Meanwhile, the visiting United Nations aid chief commended humanitarian and community organizations for their leadership in the aid response.
The head of the military government, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, has returned to the capital Naypyitaw after a rare overseas trip to attend a summit in Bangkok of South and Southeast Asian nations, where he also held separate meetings with the leaders of Thailand, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and India.
Myanmar media reported that Min Aung Hlaing reaffirmed to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi the junta’s plans to conduct “free and fair” elections in December.
An Indian foreign affairs spokesperson stated on Friday that Modi called for a permanent post-quake ceasefire in Myanmar’s ongoing civil war and emphasized the need for the elections to be “inclusive and credible.”
Critics have dismissed the planned election as a deceptive attempt to maintain the generals’ power through proxies.
Since ousting the elected civilian government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021, the military has struggled to govern Myanmar, leading to the collapse of the economy and basic services, including healthcare, a situation worsened by the earthquake on March 28th.
The civil war that ensued after the coup has displaced over 3 million people, resulting in widespread food insecurity and leaving more than a third of the population in need of humanitarian assistance, according to the UN.
United Nations aid chief Tom Fletcher spent Friday night in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city located near the earthquake’s epicenter. He posted on X, stating that humanitarian and community groups have spearheaded the response to the quake with “courage, skill, and determination.”
“Many themselves lost everything, and yet kept heading out to support survivors,” he noted.
The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights reported on Friday that the junta is restricting the delivery of aid supplies to quake-affected areas where communities do not support its rule.
The UN office also stated that it is investigating 53 reported attacks by the junta against opponents, including airstrikes, with 16 of these attacks occurring after the ceasefire was declared on Wednesday.
