bangkok: Myanmar’s ruling military declared a temporary ceasefire in the country’s civil war Wednesday to facilitate relief efforts following a 7.7 magnitude earthquake that has killed more than 2,800 people.
The announcement by the military’s high command was reported late Wednesday on state television MRTV, which said the truce would run until April 22 and was aimed at showing compassion for people affected by Friday’s quake.
The announcement followed unilateral temporary ceasefires announced by armed resistance groups opposed to military rule. Those groups must refrain from attacking the state, or regrouping, or else the military will take “necessary” measures, the army’s statement said.
Earlier Wednesday, rescuers pulled two men alive from the ruins of a hotel in Myanmar’s capital and a third from a guesthouse in another city, five days after the quake. But most teams were finding only bodies.
The quake hit midday Friday, toppling thousands of buildings, collapsing bridges and buckling roads. The death toll rose to 2,886 Wednesday, with another 4,639 injured, according to state television MRTV. Local reports suggest much higher figures.
The earthquake came amid civil war in Myanmar, making a dire humanitarian crisis even worse. More than 3 million people had been displaced from their homes and nearly 20 million were in need even before it hit, according to the United Nations. Two of the major armed resistance forces fighting the military, which seized power in 2021 from the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, had announced ceasefires to facilitate the humanitarian response to the earthquake, though the military initially did not relent in its attacks.
In the capital, Naypyitaw, a team of Turkish and local rescue workers used an endoscopic camera to locate Naing Lin Tun on a lower floor of the damaged hotel where he worked. Another man was rescued by a team of Malaysian and local crews from a collapsed guesthouse in the Sagaing township.