Myanmar authorities remained silent to honor the casualties of the devastating earthquake that killed more than 2,700 people, including 50 children, in one kindergarten near Mandalay city.
Tuesday’s moment of memory came when aid groups said communities in the most intense hit areas were struggling to find food, water and shelter.
The magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck at lunch on Friday was the strongest to hit a Southeast Asian country in more than a century, defeating ancient pagodas and modern buildings.
Myanmar’s military leader General Min Ang Fröning said in a speech aired on Tuesday that the death toll reached 2,719 and could even exceed 3,000.
He said 4,521 people were injured and 441 were missing.
At least 20 people have also died in nearby Thailand.
Sirens rang out at 12:51pm (06:21 GMT) at Hard Hit Mandalay in central Myanmar.
Outside the Sky Villa apartment, one of the city’s worst disaster sites, rescuers stopped and lined up, clutching their hands behind their backs to pay their respects.
Staff and attendees stood behind Cordon, seeing more relatives as sirens screamed and Myanmar flag flew half-mast from a bamboo stick tied to a rescue tent.
“I don’t feel safe.”
City residents said they were sleeping open for a fourth night, fearing that if their homes were to be destroyed or feared aftershocks, it would cause more damage.
“I’m not safe. The six or seven-story building leaning beside my house and could collapse at any time,” watchmaker Soe Tint told AFP news agency.
Some survivors have tents, but many, including babies and children, lie on blankets in the middle of the road, staying as far as possible from damaged buildings.
In Napi-Dau, the capital, the Myanmar Fire Department said on Tuesday, 91 hours after the earthquake hit, rescuers saved the 63-year-old woman from the tiled bleed on the building.
However, authorities said it is unlikely that they would find any more survivors.
The civil war in Myanmar, when the military seized power in a coup in 2021, also had complicated efforts to reach the injured and those who became homeless due to strong tremors.
Reported from Bangkok, Thailand, Jessica Washington of Al Jazeera said many families in central Myanmar are struggling to meet their basic needs.
“They don’t have connectivity, they don’t have electricity. People are struggling. They are still sleeping outside. In one hospital in the city, people are being treated outdoors in extreme heat. Access to water is also difficult,” she said.
Despite the destruction, there have also been multiple reports of military attacks on armed groups opposed to its control, adding that parts of Myanmar are questioning exactly how pleased the troops are in search of survivors.
“In Sagar, the city closest to the epicenter, there is extremely limited access. I know that on the ground there are Malaysian crews who have supported the efforts in the collapsed school,” she said. “But other crews on the ground say they were essentially stopped by the troops and the troops and militias, stopping them from accessing areas where they are important needs.”
The assistance was denied
Meanwhile, Amnesty International said the military should allow aid to reach areas that are not under its control.
“Myanmar’s military has a long-standing practice of refusing to help the area where groups that resist it operate,” said Joe Freeman, a Myanmar researcher at Amnesty.
“We need to quickly grant unhindered access to all humanitarian organisations and remove any administrative barriers that delay the assessment of needs.”
The UN Humanitarian Agency (OCHA) said the earthquake victims included 50 children and two teachers, who were killed when the kindergarten collapsed near Mandalay.
The Myanmar state-run global light reported that around 500 Muslims were killed in the country as the earthquake struck when worshippers gathered at the mosque to pray on Friday.
In Bangkok, rescuers were still scrutinizing the ruins of unfinished skyscrapers that had collapsed due to signs of life, but four days have passed since the earthquake, making the chances of finding survivors longer.
“There are about 70 bodies below it… And we hope that by some miracles one or two are still alive,” Volunteer rescue leader Bin Bungluelit said at the site of the building.
Bangkok Lieutenant Governor Tabida Kamorbezi said six human-shaped figures were detected by the scanner but no movement or vital signs. Local and international experts were now thinking about how to get to them safely, she said.
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