Myanmar quake death toll passes 1,600 as people dig for survivors with bare hands

The number of people known to have died following the devastating earthquake in Myanmar has risen to more than 1,600, with people in some areas saying they had been left to dig through rubble for their loved ones with their bare hands.

An acute lack of equipment, patchy communication networks and wrecked roads and bridges were also hampering the search for survivors.

The quake has flattened much of Mandalay, the country's second-largest city.

There was applause when rescuers pulled a woman alive from the wreckage of a 12-storey apartment block some 30 hours after it collapsed, but the Red Cross says more than 90 people may still be trapped there.

In a nearby township, rescue workers found the bodies of 12 preschool children and a teacher under a building housing a kindergarten.

Cracks and surface distortions to the main highway between the biggest city Yangon, the capital Nay Pyi Taw and Mandalay had caused severe transport disruptions, UN humanitarian agency OCHA said.

There were also shortages of medical supplies including trauma kits, blood bags, anaesthetics, essential medicines and tents for health workers, it said.

Although rescue teams have been at work since yesterday and international aid has begun to enter the country, help is yet to reach the worst-hit areas and ordinary people have been trying to dig survivors out by hand.

Widely shared footage shows two men moving rubble to pry out a young woman trapped between two concrete slabs.

Stay with us for updates.

Source: BBC