Myanmar hospital "broken" after earthquake

(Dan Tri) - Long lines of injured people lay outside the emergency room of a 1,000-bed hospital in Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw after a 7.7-magnitude earthquake.

Bệnh viện Myanmar vỡ trận sau động đất - 1 — The number of casualties in Myanmar after the earthquake has risen to nearly 1,000 people (Photo: AFP).

Myanmar's MRTV television station said that as of the evening of March 28, at least 144 people in the country had died and 732 were injured.

A series of victims were taken to the hospital, some by car, some by pickup truck, others on stretchers, their bodies covered in blood and dust.

“This is a mass casualty area,” an official at the 1,000-bed hospital in the capital Naypyidaw said as they led journalists out of the treatment area.

The hospital itself was also affected by the horrific aftershocks. Its emergency department was severely damaged, with a car crushed under the concrete at the entrance.

"Many injured people have been brought in, I have never seen anything like this before. We are trying to deal with the situation. I am exhausted," a doctor at the hospital told AFP.

"Hundreds of injured people are coming, but the emergency building here also collapsed," another worker said.

Outside the emergency room, people injured by the earthquake lay scattered. Some were crying out in pain. Others sat stunned, their heads in their hands, blood streaming down their faces and limbs.

Myanmar's military commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing visited the hospital and inquired about the victims.

The capital Naypyidaw, about 250km from the epicenter, was also badly damaged. Many roads were damaged, buildings collapsed. The road leading to one of the capital’s biggest hospitals was jammed with traffic. As ambulances weaved between vehicles, medical staff screamed and pleaded for help.

Authorities fear the death toll from the earthquake in Myanmar will rise further. Hospitals here are calling on people to donate blood to support victims.

The Moe Satana Charitable Association, a Myanmar rescue group, said its forces had pulled out 60 bodies and 130 injured people from the Pyinmana area, which borders the capital Naypyidaw.

"Basically, we have recovered at least 60 bodies from monasteries and buildings in Pyinmana alone. We are sending them to two hospitals. There are still many people trapped in buildings that we have not been able to reach yet," a rescue worker from the team said.

General Min Aung Hlaing also warned that the death toll would rise, and appealed to any country to come to Myanmar’s aid. On state television, he said he had opened routes for international aid and had accepted offers of help from India and the ASEAN bloc.

On the afternoon of March 28, a 7.7 magnitude earthquake occurred near the city of Mandalay, central Myanmar. Aftershocks were felt in neighboring countries such as China, Thailand, Vietnam, India, Laos, and Cambodia. This can be considered the most serious earthquake in Myanmar since 1946.