Myanmar hospitals overwhelmed as military government says more than 2,000 killed (2025)

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Live Reporting

Edited by Andrew Humphrey and Alex Smith, with BBC Burmese reporting from Myanmar and reporters in Bangkok

Death tolls rise as rescue efforts continuepublished at 16:04 British Summer Time 31 March
16:04 BST 31 March
Rescue efforts are continuing in Myanmar, three days after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake hit the country.
The military government there says the number of people killed has now risen to 2,056, with more than 3,000 injured - but getting information out of Myanmar is difficult and there are questions over the scale of the disaster.
It has declared that a minute's silence will be held on Tuesday, as well as a week of national mourning.
The UN says the earthquake has compounded "an already dire crisis" in the country, which is in the midst of a four-year civil war. Despite the destruction, reports suggest Myanmar’s military leaders are still carrying out air strikes against pro-democracy rebel groups.
Meanwhile in neighbouring Thailand, at least 20 people are known to have died, with rescue efforts continuing in Bangkok for 74 construction workers thought to be trapped under the rubble of a collapsed high-rise building.
But officials there warn there has been no signs of life amongst the wreckage for hours.
We’re bringing this live page to a close, but you can keep up-to-date on the BBC News website:
- Myanmar quake: 'I feel guilty - our people need us the most now'
- Myanmar earthquake: What we know
Additional Chinese rescuers to be deployed to Myanmarpublished at 15:45 British Summer Time 31 March
15:45 BST 31 March
An additional 80 rescuers from China's Blue Sky Rescue Team will be deployed to Myanmar on Tuesday, the organisation says.
Team leader Zhu Minyun says that as things stand, the main focus is on search and rescue, with deployed teams short on manpower and equipment, and working in intense heat.
Zhu points out that with more rescuers arriving, things should improve "a lot".
He says the goal is to set up a major relief corridor into Myanmar to reach more affected areas, and rescuers plan to work with Chinese and Burmese authorities to assess the safety of the route.
Military junta not responding to ceasefire calls in Myanmar - ousted government politicianpublished at 15:35 British Summer Time 31 March
15:35 BST 31 March
Myanmar's military junta is not responding to requests for a ceasefire in the country's four-year civil war, according to a member of the National Unity Government (NUG), which represents the ousted civilian administration.
Speaking to the BBC, Win Myat Aye says "fighting is continuing from their side. Near Mandalay, in some townships, they have the heavy weapons shooting inside”. We brought you details on some of the reported ground attacks earlier.
He adds that some “revolutionary forces have extended their will to help” but “there is no signal” or response from the military.
He also accuses the military junta of prioritising taking aid for themselves rather than channelling it to those most in need.
Myanmar to hold minute's silence for victimspublished at 15:11 British Summer Time 31 March
15:11 BST 31 March
Myanmar's military junta says the country will hold a minute's silence on Tuesday for the victims of Friday's powerful earthquake.
The silence will take place at 12:51:02, the precise time the 7.7 magnitude quake struck, the junta announced.
Myanmar citizen in Thailand: 'I feel guilty - our people need us the most now'published at 14:54 British Summer Time 31 March
14:54 BST 31 March
Tessa Wong
Reporting from Samut Sakhon
The last time Soe Ko Ko Naing saw his great-uncle was in July as he was about to flee the country
Living in Min Kun, a small town in the military stronghold area of Sagaing, Ko Naing did not trust anyone enough to tell them of his plan – except his beloved Oo Oo ('uncle' in Burmese).
"I told him I was going to Thailand. He thought it was a good plan. He wished me good health and safety," recalled Ko Naing, a 35-year-old labour rights activist.
Nearly a year on, Ko Naing, a supporter of Myanmar's resistance against the military junta, is safe in Thailand. But his Oo Oo was killed by the powerful earthquake that struck Sagaing near Mandalay last Friday.
"I have sleepless nights. I'm still suffering," said Ko Naing.
"I have no remorse for leaving the country, because I had to. But I feel guilty because our people need us the most now. I feel helpless."
The BBC has spoken to some of the millions of Myanmar's diaspora anxiously watching from afar as their country struggles following its biggest earthquake in a century.
Prison where Aung San Suu Kyi is 'largely unaffected' - sonpublished at 14:39 British Summer Time 31 March
14:39 BST 31 March
Image source, Getty Images
The prison housing Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar's jailed democracy icon, is believed to be "largely unaffected by the earthquake", her son Kim Aris told the BBC from the US, where he's based.
"But there's no way of getting anything confirmed," he said, adding that she has only been allowed to write to him once since she was imprisoned.
The former civilian leader who was ousted in the 2021 military coup and is serving a decades-long jail sentence on charges that her allies and supporters say are politically motivated.
"The military have used natural disasters like this in the past as weapons against their own people by withholding humanitarian aid," Kim Aris said - echoing previous claims from activists and aid groups following similar natural disasters.
"I hope that's not going to be the case on this occasion, but I don't imagine they're going to change their stripes."
See Also
Chicago native living in Thailand describes experience with devastating earthquake
Myanmar ceasefire 'crucially important' for aid work - UN officialpublished at 14:14 British Summer Time 31 March
14:14 BST 31 March
"There needs to be a ceasefire" in the ongoing civil war in Myanmar to help disaster relief efforts, according the the UN's special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar.
As we told you earlier, rebels have been reporting that the Myanmar military has been carrying out ground attacks in areas hit by the earthquake.
Speaking to the BBC's Newsday programme, Tom Andrews says there are also fears among those volunteering that they might be arrested or conscripted.
"The level of fear in this country and the devastation brought by this military coup and all that has followed is absolutely devastating," he says.
He adds that a ceasefire is "crucially important" to enable humanitarian aid to "get in and not be blown up".
The UN official also calls on the international community to "put as much pressure as possible on the junta to juststop. Stop the fighting, stop the bombing".
Teachers and students still trapped in Sagaing high school - rescuerpublished at 13:51 British Summer Time 31 March
13:51 BST 31 March
A rescue worker tells our colleagues at BBC Burmese that eight children and three teachers from Myat Soeung High School in the city of Sagaing, Myanmar are still trapped in the rubble.
Since the earthquake struck on Friday, dozens of students and teachers have remained stuck in the school's wreckage, but this morning the Malaysian rescue team managed to get the headteacher out, they say.
The rescue worker adds that this is thanks to the Malaysian team's technology and machinery, as they have a team able to identify where people are - making the process faster.
But a sense of uncertainty and diminishing hope overshadows rescue efforts at the moment, they add. In recent days rescuers have heard cries for help, but "today we haven't heard any, so we're not sure if the children are alive", they say.
Another body found after high-rise building collapsepublished at 13:36 British Summer Time 31 March
13:36 BST 31 MarchBreaking
Rescuers searching the rubble of a Bangkok high-rise have found a 13th body.
Officials say of those killed, eight were men and five were women.
Earlier we told you that rescuers were still searching for construction workers trapped under the rubble, but there had been no sign of life for hours.
Rescue efforts continue three days after earthquake - a recappublished at 13:28 British Summer Time 31 March
13:28 BST 31 March
Image source, EPA
Rescues efforts have continued into Monday after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake hit Myanmar - here's everything you need to know so far.
Myanmar
The full scale of devastation here continues to emerge.
In the last hour, the military junta ruling the country announced that 2,056 people have been killed, with more than 3,900 injured and 270 people still missing.
As a reminder, getting information out of the country is difficult, and Myanmar's military leadership has a history of supressing the scale of national disasters.
The World Health Organization has launched an urgent appeal for $8m (£6.2m) in aid for its earthquake response in Myanmar, with a spokesperson reporting hospitals destroyed and overwhelmed.
Foreign aid and rescue teams have joined the effort, with a Chinese team reportedly pulling four people alive from the rubble in Mandalay on Monday.
Thailand
At least 19 people are confirmed to have died in Thailand since Friday's earthquake.
The situation in the country has "largely returned to normal" according to the prime minister, but rescue operations continue amongst the rubble of a high-rise building that collapsed in Bangkok - where 12 people are known to have died.
The city's deputy governor has warned that three days out from the collapse, there is now a “lower chance for a survivor” to be found, and there have been no signs of life spotted for hours.
Do we know the true scale of the devastation in Myanmar?published at 13:04 British Summer Time 31 March
13:04 BST 31 March
There have been questions surrounding the information and statistics released by Myanmar's military leadership, which has a history of supressing the scale of national disasters.
Getting information out of Myanmar is difficult.
Media access has been restricted in the country since 2021, and the state controls almost all local radio, television, print and online media. Internet use is also restricted.
The military council has rejected requests from international journalists to cover the devastation, citing the lack of water, electricity and hotels, according to the Reuters news agency.
Mobile lines in the affected areas have been patchy, but tens of thousands of people also live without electricity, making it difficult for the BBC to reach residents.
Foreign journalists are rarely allowed into the country officially, and the junta has said it will not grant visas for foreign reporters requested to cover the aftermath the earthquake, citing an inability to guarantee their safety.
- What we know about the Myanmar earthquake so far
Myanmar death toll climbs to over 2,000 - military governmentpublished at 12:45 British Summer Time 31 March
12:45 BST 31 MarchBreaking
The military junta ruling Myanmar says the death toll from Friday's earthquake has now risen to 2,056 people.
More than 3,900 people have been injured, a spokesperson adds, with 270 still missing.
As we've been reporting, it is hard to verify the number of people who have died in the earthquake, but a US Geological Survey said on Friday that "a death toll over 10,000 is a strong possibility".
Crematoriums overwhelmed as smell of death fills the streetspublished at 12:41 British Summer Time 31 March
12:41 BST 31 March
Image source, Getty Images
Three days out from when the earthquake hit, the scale of devastation in Myanmar continues to be felt.
Crematoriums in Mandalay, near the epicentre of the earthquake, are reportedly overwhelmed as families try to cremate the bodies of their relatives.
In nearby Sagaing, locals say the smell of dead bodies has filled the streets.
The price of body bags at one Yangon market has soared too. According to the BBC Burmese team that visited, they used to cost 9,000 kyats ($4; £3), but are now priced between 10,000 - 20,000 kyats.
'Super-shear' earthquake caused damage miles from epicentrepublished at 12:22 British Summer Time 31 March
12:22 BST 31 March
Victoria Gill
Science correspondent
Early analysis of Friday's earthquake that hit Myanmar and thesurrounding region has revealed why the event has had such devastatingeffects hundreds of miles from the epicentre - in Bangkok.
Scientists who are currently examining data from a globalnetwork of seismic monitors say it appears that the rupture in the Earth’scrust that caused the earthquake grew faster than the waves of energy itcreated could physically move through the earth.
We call this a "super-shear" earthquake, Dr StephenHicks from UCL explains.
This means, he says, that the energy from that rupturebuilds up because it is moving faster than seismic waves can travel through therock of Earth's crust. “That’s what causes this greatly increased ground shaking,” he says.
Seismologists, who have been sharing their early analysesonline, say the length of the rupture was as much as 400km (248.5 miles) long.
In one post, Prof Frederik Tilmann from the Helmholtz Centre forGeosciences in Potsdam, Germany, explains that a super-shear rupture like this “is the earthquake equivalent ofa supersonic jet”, travelling at speeds of around 5km per second.
Because the fracture “unzipped” towards the south it alsodirected this piled up energy towards the Thai capital, Bangkok.
Super-shear earthquakes are relatively rare, butscientists studying them say understanding what causes them - and where theyare most likely to happen - is vital to develop a more accurate picture ofearthquake risk.
No 'vital signs' among rubble of Thai high-rise for five hourspublished at 12:06 British Summer Time 31 March
12:06 BST 31 March
Image source, EPA
Nineteen people are known to have died in Thailand so far, with 12 killed when a high-rise building in Bangkok that was under construction collapsed.
Rescue operations at the construction site continue, but in the last past five hours, rescuers have been unable to detect "more vital signs" from those trapped in the rubble, Bangkok deputy governor Tavida Kamolvej says.
Rescuers detected one individual earlier today, she adds, but "unfortunately it's the dead body, which you have already seen we carried that body out.”
Kamolvej says there is now a “lower chance for a survivor” to be found, as it has passed 72 hours since the construction site collapsed, but insists teams are not giving up and are working to speed up their efforts.
“The reason why there's a lot of trucks coming in and out because we try to clear the mountains of the rubbles for the space,” Kamolvej says.
Thai PM says situation 'largely returned to normal'published at 11:40 British Summer Time 31 March
11:40 BST 31 March
We've been bringing you a lot of updates this morning on the situation in Myanmar, but Friday's earthquake has also had an impact in neighbouring Thailand.
The country's Prime Minister, Paetongtarn Shinawatra says search and rescue operations there continue, but the "situation has largely returned to normal".
Writing in a post on Facebook, she also offers her "heartfelt" appreciation to leaders who reached out and sent support in the aftermath of the earthquake.
"We are deeply touched to all who have reached out and extended a helping hand, which reflects your solidarity and care," she writes.
Shinawatra adds that the government is monitoring the current situation and is ready to provide further assistance if needed. She also extends her "thoughts and prayers" to Myanmar.
A preschool reduced to rubble in Myanmarpublished at 11:29 British Summer Time 31 March
11:29 BST 31 March
Htet Naing Zhaw
BBC Burmese in Kyaukse
Image source, BBC Burmese
In Kyaukse – which is about 44km (27.3 miles) away from Mandalay, theepicentre of Friday’s massive earthquake - I’m standing at what used to be apreschool for children aged between two-and-a-half years to seven.
All that is left now is a pile of bricks with ironbars protruding out here and there.
Strewn amid the wreckage are childhood mementos. I see about 15 school bags of different colours -pink, blue, orange, and some shaped like Minions from the Despicable Me film franchise – torn apart with books spilling out of them.
Also visible are Spiderman toys, letters of the alphabet,sliders and other learning materials.
There were believed to be about 70 children at the schoolwhen the earthquake struck. The school says 13 of them have died, but locals believe thenumber to be at least 40 - that is how many were in the downstairssection of the school that collapsed entirely.
Residents and parents here are distraught.
Many tell me they rushed to the school when the earthquake struck to try and help with rescue efforts. They say they havenot been able to eat a thing since, with some describing scenes where bodiesof children were retrieved and taken away in ambulances.
Some talk abouthow mothers came here and cried, calling out the names of their children, until the next day.
Rescue efforts continued until midnight on Friday night, butefforts stopped the following day.
There is no rescue work as I’m here. It’s all empty now.
Four people pulled alive from rubble in Myanmar - reportpublished at 11:15 British Summer Time 31 March
11:15 BST 31 March
Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
Four people have been pulled alive from a collapsed building in Mandalay, Myanmar, according to China's Xinhua news agency.
Those rescued included a pregnant woman and a child, who were found alive amidst the rubble of the Sky Villa apartment building.
According to the news agency, Yue Xin, head of the China Search and Rescue Team that reportedly pulled people from the rubble in Mandalay says: "It doesn't matter how long we work. The most important thing is that we can bring hope to the local people".
Myanmar's neighbours, including China, India and Thailand, are among some of the countries to support rescue efforts.
Myanmar military continues attacks in earthquake-affected region, rebels reportpublished at 10:45 British Summer Time 31 March
10:45 BST 31 March
Rebecca Henschke
BBC Eye reporter and former Asia editor
As a reminder, Myanmar is in the midst of a four-year long civil war, and has been ruled by a military junta since a coup in 2021.
The Myanmar military has carried out ground attacks in theearthquake hit region of Sagaing today, according to rebels.
A spokesperson for Chaung U Peoples Defence Forces - a civilianmilitia group - tells the BBC that they came under heavy mortar shelling today. The rebels reported five military convoys in the area.
This is at a time when earthquake relief and rescue workers inthe region are struggling with a serious lack of resources.
The military has also continued to carry out airstrikestoday in other parts of the country in its attempt to crush the pro-democracynationwide uprising that is fighting to remove them from power.
It is ignoring calls from Singapore and the UnitedNations for a ceasefire so that vital aid can be distributed.
The National Unity Government, which represents the oustedcivilian administration, said its rebel units would pause non-defensive fighting in earthquake affected areas from Sunday for two weeks.
UN investigators have warned that the Myanmar military iscommitting gross human rights violations in its attempt to crush the uprising.
Since seizing power, it has barred foreignjournalists from working in the country, and banned local independent mediahouses.
In a statement yesterday the junta said it would not grant visasfor foreign reporters requested to cover the aftermath the earthquake, citingan inability to guarantee their safety.
'I have lived through several earthquakes, but never anything like this' - rescue workerpublished at 10:25 British Summer Time 31 March
10:25 BST 31 March
Image source, EPA
Rescue teams on the ground in Myanmar are having to navigate damaged roads, landslides and debris to reach affected communities, the International Rescue Committee says.
Their work is also being complicated by "unreliable" communication systems, "especially in downtown areas", and severe power outages, one worker adds.
They are currently stationed near the epicentre in Mandalay, and say people are sleeping outside on roads or in open fields for fear of aftershocks. But in towns and cities, there are not enough tents for people to shelter in, or safe spaces to seek refuge.
"We are also running out of water for both drinking and daily use. Only small water bottles are available, but they are rare and expensive," they say.
“I have lived through several earthquakes in my life, but I have never experienced anything like this."