Rescuers discover body in skyscraper rubble: More and more dead after earthquake

By Johannes Neudecker

Mandalay/Bangkok - Following the devastating earthquake in Myanmar , rescue workers in Southeast Asia are continuing their search and rescue operations. In Thailand's capital Bangkok, helpers recovered another body from the rubble of a collapsed skyscraper in the early hours of the morning (local time), as the newspaper "Khaosod" reported.

More people are believed to be buried in the huge pile of rubble from the tower block, which was still under construction when it collapsed. People have gathered there and are desperately waiting for news of their loved ones, whom they have not heard from since the disaster .

The broadcaster Thai PBS reported on Saturday that eight bodies had already been recovered. 46 people are still missing. The helpers are fighting against time. They are using sniffer dogs to search for more survivors, having heard signs of life under the rubble the day before.

It was later announced that the number of confirmed earthquake deaths in Thailand's capital Bangkok has risen to a total of 17. 83 people are still missing, the authorities announced. 32 people were reported injured.

The 30-storey high-rise building collapsed when severe earth tremors with an epicenter in Myanmar shook Southeast Asia on Friday. The strongest quake occurred near Mandalay, Myanmar's second largest city, with a magnitude of 7.7.

A few minutes later, another strong earthquake followed a little to the south - the Geo Research Center in Potsdam (GFZ) and the US Earthquake Observatory (USGS) reported a magnitude of 6.5 and 6.7 respectively. There were numerous other aftershocks. The major quakes were also clearly felt in parts of China and Vietnam.

Even though the quake ultimately caused the high-rise building in Bangkok to collapse, the Thai authorities have now launched an investigation to determine how this could have happened, as reported by theBangkok Post.

According to the report, the office building was a joint venture project between Italian-Thai Development Plc and a subsidiary of the China Railway No.10 Engineering Group, which belongs to the Chinese state-owned enterprise China Railway Engineering Corporation (CREC).

Little information is leaking out from Myanmar, which is particularly affected. The military junta ruling the civil war-torn country has so far confirmed 1644 deaths. 3400 people have been injured. However, experts fear that far more people may have lost their lives. The situation in the country is dramatic. As can be seen in photos, a number of houses have collapsed, bridges have collapsed and a hospital in the state of Shan has been completely destroyed.

According to "Myanmar Now", the natural disaster also caused the air traffic control tower at the international airport in the capital Naypyitaw to collapse. At least six people were killed, the news site reported, citing its own sources.

In China, a neighboring state of Myanmar and one of the few allies of the civil war country, the earthquake hit the southwestern province of Yunnan the hardest. According to state media, almost 850 houses were damaged in the city of Ruili, which is around 300 kilometers from the epicenter in Myanmar.

Two people were injured there. The authorities reportedly checked the condition of water protection projects and power plants after the quake.

After the quake, aid from abroad began to arrive, particularly for Myanmar, which had been ravaged by civil war. The relief service Malteser International sent an emergency aid team from Germany to the affected areas. According to state media, China sent several disaster control teams with special equipment to Myanmar.

According to Xinhua, a Chinese team rescued a man from the rubble of a hospital in Naypyidaw after 40 hours. The Thai government also announced that it had sent special teams to Myanmar to assist with search and rescue work and damage assessment, despite being affected itself.