Naypyidaw [Myanmar], March 30: Hundreds of Muslim worshippers are feared to be among the more than 1,600 people who died in a powerful earthquake which struck central Myanmar when they had gathered at mosques for prayers during Ramadan.
According to the shadow National Unity Government, more than 50 mosques across the country also sustained damage when the magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck on Friday.
Htet Min Oo was performing ritual ablutions before Ramadan prayers at a mosque next to his house in Mandalay.
His home collapsed along with part of the mosque, trapping half his body with the rubble of a wall that buried two of his aunts. Residents raced to pull them out, he said, but only one survived. The 25-year-old told the Reuters news agency, that his two uncles and his grandmother were also trapped under piles of concrete. With no heavy equipment available, he tried desperately to clear the rubble with his hands but could not shift it. "I don't know if they are still alive under the debris. After so long, I don't think there's any hope," he said on Friday.
"There's too much rubble and no rescue teams have come for us," he added, his voice shaking as he broke into tears.
A 39-year-old resident of the Mandalay region described harrowing scenes as he tried to save a man trapped under the debris of a collapsed mosque in Sule Kone village but had to flee because of strong aftershocks.
"I had to leave him behind . I went in a second time to try to save him," he told Reuters, declining to be identified. "I retrieved four people with my own hands. But unfortunately, three were already dead, and one died in my arms." The resident said 10 people had been killed there, and they were among 23 who died at three mosques. (Agencies)
Source: Qatar Tribune
