NDRF retrieves 9 bodies from building debris in earthquake-affected Myanmar
NDRF rescuers are working at 13 different sites which include housing complexes, where multiple buildings have collapsed, the officer said.
Rescuers from India’s National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) retrieved nine bodies from different locations in the earthquake-hit Myanmar, officials said on Monday, days after a devastating 7.7-magnitude quake hit the nation on Friday, claiming at least 1,700 lives.
Of the nine bodies found by Indian rescuers, at least five were retrieved from U Hla Thein monastery where nearly 170 monks are believed to have been trapped in the debris, the officials cited above said.
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“NDRF rescuers are posted in sector D of Mandalay city, where most buildings have collapsed due to the earthquake. The teams are divided and posted at different places. Five bodies were found in the monastery while the other four were found in different locations. A portion of the monastery had collapsed when the monks were inside,” a senior officer said requesting anonymity.
NDRF rescuers are working at 13 different sites which include housing complexes, where multiple buildings have collapsed, the officer said.
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“At the monastery, our personnel are using heavy machinery to cut through the concrete debris. Residents and local administration told us that nearly 170 monks were trapped there. At each site, the local administration and residents have been supporting the NDRF personnel,” the officer said.
India on Saturday mobilised its armed forces for a mission to deliver dozens of tonnes of relief materials and to fly in an 80-member search and rescue team and a military field hospital to help victims of the 7.7-magnitude earthquake in Myanmar. Four canines were also flown with the rescuers, who are from the NDRF’s 8th battalion.
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This is the third time that India has sent NDRF abroad to assist in search and rescue operation after earthquake. Around 700 personnel were sent to Nepal in 2015 and 152 to Turkey in 2023.
NDRF officials said that a second contingent of trained self-contained 180 rescuers from battalions in Kolkata and New Delhi offices are on standby and awaiting the government’s instructions if there is a request for more rescuers from the force.
According to news agencies, Myanmar government spokesman Maj Gen Zaw Min Tun told state-run MRTV that the death toll has climbed to 1,700, another 3,400 have been injured and more than 300 were missing.
