Hundreds of Muslim worshippers are feared to be among the more than 1,600 people who died in the powerful earthquake that struck central Myanmar when they gathered at a mosque to pray during Ramadan.
More than 50 mosques across the country also suffered damage when the magnitude 7.7 earthquake hit Friday, according to Shadow National Unity Government.
Htet Min Oo had performed a ritual cleansing at the mosque next to his house in Mandalay before Ramadan prayed.
His house collapsed along with parts of the mosque, trapping half of his body in a tile ble on the wall that buried two of his aunts. The residents ran to pull them out, he said, but only one survived.
The 25-year-old told Reuters that his two uncles and his grandmother were also trapped under a pile of concrete. With heavy equipment not available, he desperately tried to clean up the tiled rub with his hands, but was unable to transfer it.
“I don’t know if they’re still living under the shards. I don’t think there’s any hope for a long time,” he said Friday.
“There are too many tile rubs and no rescue teams are here for us,” he added.
The 39-year-old resident of the Mandalay area tried to save a man trapped under the pieces of a collapsed mosque in the village of Soulekone, but had to escape due to a strong aftershock.
“I had to leave him behind… I went for the second time trying to save him,” he told Reuters, denying him to be identified. “I retrieved four people with my own hands. Unfortunately, three were already dead and one died in my arms.”
Residents say 10 people were killed there, and they were among the 23 people who died in three mosques destroyed in the village. Government restrictions prevented them from being upgraded, he said.
Muslims are primarily Buddhist Myanmar minorities, oppressed and alienated by successive governments, but supranational groups have been causing violence in recent years.
A large Muslim minority, the Rohingya are one of the most persecuted groups by Myanmar authorities and suffer from massive deaths and exile.
Myanmar authorities have made it difficult for Muslims to obtain permission to repair or build mosques for decades, according to a 2017 report from the US State Department, the historic mosques have been exacerbated by refusing to maintain them regularly.
One man, Julian Kyle, sued heavy equipment on social media to lift concrete pillars after the earthquake destroyed another Mandalay mosque.
“Under the tile rub, my family and others were crushed and lost their lives,” he posted. “We desperately want to recover their bodies.”
A resident of the town of Town Nu, about 370 km (230 miles) away, said he was praying when one side of the Kando Mosque caves into two rows of men sitting in front of him.
“I saw many people being brought from the mosque, some of them died right in front of my eyes,” he said. “It was really heartbreaking.”
Citing local newspapers, Al Jazeera’s Sanad Agency said the collapse of the mosque on Friday increased the collapse of more buildings, especially those from more than 150 years ago, and government regulations say they have not received the necessary permissions for renewal.
According to the military government, Buddhist buildings were also severely hit by the earthquake, causing damage to 670 monasteries and 290 pagodas. The damage report did not mention the mosque.
So far, Quake has destroyed other buildings, bridges and roads beyond the belts of Myanmar.
However, many believe that the true scale of the disaster has not yet emerged due to patchy communication in remote areas.
Bangkok-based volunteer Harry Roberts said the situation in Myanmar is likely to be “very complicated” and “really serious” given the unusual appeal of the government’s international support.
“The demands have to drip into immigration and habits, so non-governmental organizations like our own can get immediate assistance there,” Roberts said.
“This stage is primarily about gathering information and assessing accessibility to the country.”
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