China will give earthquake-stricken Myanmar 100 million yuan (about US$13.9 million) in emergency humanitarian aid, Xinhua reported on Saturday – citing a spokesperson for the China International Development Cooperation Agency.
The impoverished Southeast Asian nation – currently in the middle of a civil war – was rocked by a 7.7-magnitude earthquake on Friday, its epicentre located near the central city of Mandalay. As of Sunday, the death toll had reached around 1,700 people, with 3,400 injured and over 300 missing, Reuters reported.
A medical team from Yunnan Province was the first foreign team to reach Myanmar, according to Xinhua. The 37-member team touched down at Yangon International Airport on Saturday morning, bringing relief supplies including life detectors, earthquake early-warning systems, portable satellite telecom devices and drones.
An 82-member rescue team dispatched by China’s Ministry of Emergency Management arrived in the country on Saturday afternoon, along with a 23-member volunteer team from Shenzhen and a 51-member rescue team from Hong Kong.
[See more: Guangdong-Macao emergency medical services to begin this year]
Specialised teams from other countries and regions, including neighbouring India and Thailand, have also rushed to Myanmar.
The earthquake damaged critical infrastructure and displaced more than 3.5 million people in the country of around 54 million. The US Geological Service has estimated that Myanmar’s death toll could eventually top 10,000 and losses could exceed the country’s annual economic output, Reuters reported.
Alexander Matheou, regional director for Asia Pacific at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, described the situation as far more than a natural disaster. “It is a complex humanitarian crisis layered over existing vulnerabilities,” he said in a statement on Sunday.
“With temperatures rising and the monsoon season approaching in just weeks, there is an urgent need to stabilise affected communities before secondary crises emerge.”
