BBC finds great destruction and a little help for survivors in Mandalay

Warning: This article contains details and pictures that some readers may find sad

Leadership to Mandalay, the massive scope of destruction on the earthquake last Friday by slowly.

On almost every street we turned to it, especially in the northern and central parts of the city, at least one building collapsed completely, and it was reduced to a pile of rubble. Some streets had multiple structures that had fallen.

Almost every building we saw had cracks that pass through at least one of its walls, unsafe to interfere with them. At the main city hospital, they have to treat outdoor patients.

The military government in Myanmar said it does not allow foreign journalists to enter the country after the earthquake, so we went to secrecy. We had to work carefully, because the country is full of informants and the secret police that spied on their people for the ruling military.

What we have seen is a people who had little help on their way to facing this tremendous catastrophe.

“I hope he is alive, even if it is a small opportunity,” said Nan Sen Seen, 41, who was waiting on the street for a five -storey building, day and night for five days.

Say Han Fe, 21, was a construction worker, who renewed the building’s interiors, which was a hotel and was converted into a office space.

“If they can save it today, there is an opportunity that will survive,” she says.

When the 7.7 -size earthquake is hit, the bottom of the building is drowned in the ground, wandering in a corner over the street, and it seems that it can be running out at any moment.

Sai Han F and four other workers were trapped inside.

When we visited us, the rescue efforts in the building did not start and there was no sign that it would start soon. There is not enough assistance available on the ground – the reason for this is the political situation in the country.

Even before the earthquake, Myanmar was in a state of turmoil – closed in a civil war that led to the displacement of an estimated 3.5 million people. Its army continues its operations against armed armed groups despite the disaster.

This means that the security forces are very extended to putting their full power behind relief and rescue operations. With the exception of some major sites, we have not seen them in large numbers in Mandalay.

The Military Council has made a rare appeal to international aid, but its unstable relations with many foreign countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States, mean that although these countries have pledged to help, help in the form of the workforce on the ground is currently only from countries such as India, China and Russia, among a few other powers.

So far, the rescue efforts appear to focus on the structures in which the masses of the people-Sky Villa, the towering of the hundreds of people, and the Buddhist Pohmet Academy feared where dozens of monks were examining when the earthquake was struck.

The structure has collapsed like a “pie” – one layer on his head.

“It is the most difficult pattern of collapse and the chances of finding the survivors very low. But we still hope and do our best,” he told the BBC.

Working under the sunshine hanging, at approximately 40 ° C, rescuers use metal exercises and cuts to break the concrete panels into smaller pieces. It is slow and very demanding work. When the crane raises concrete pieces, the scent of decomposing objects, already strong, becomes overwhelming.

Rescuers are discovered from four to five bodies, but it still takes a few hours to withdraw the first one.

Sitting on the mats under a temporary tent in the academy complex are the families of students. Their faces are tired and despair. Once they heard a body recovered, they gather around the ambulance.

Others gather around the savior that displays them with a picture of the body on its mobile phone.

The painful moments pass while families try to find out whether the dead man is one of his family members.

But the body is very deformed, and the task is impossible. It is sent to a morgue where forensic tests must be performed to confirm the identity.

Among the families are the 29 -year -old U Thzana’s father. He has no hope for his son’s survival. Yu Hala Aung said, “Knowing my son ended up, I am not able to enjoy, and I am full of sadness.”

Mandalay’s historical sites have also suffered severe damage, including Mandalay Palace and Maha Money, but we were unable to enter the extent of damage.

Reaching everything – collapse sites, victims and their families – was not easy due to the repressive environment created by the Military Council, as people often fear to speak to journalists.

Near the temple, we saw the Buddhist funeral rituals held on the street outside a devastating house. The UH Aung Khaing home and his wife Daw MamarhTay were both in the 1960s.

Their son told us: “I lived with them, but I was outside when the earthquake hit. That’s why I survived. Each of my father went in one moment.”

Their bodies were not removed by the trained rescuers, but by the local population who used primitive equipment. It took two days to withdraw the spouses, who were found with their arms around each other.

The Military Government in Myanmar says 2886 people have died so far, but many collapse sites have not even been reached by the authorities, this count is unlikely to be accurate. We may never discover the number of the dead.

The gardens and open spaces in Mandalaay turned into temporary camps, as well as banks from the trench that operates around the palace. Throughout the city, we saw people putting mats and brushes outside their homes as evening approaching, preferring to sleep outdoors.

Mandalay is a city that lives in terror and a good reason. Almost every night since Friday there have been great tremors. We woke up to a 5 -night shock.

But tens of thousands sleep outdoors because they do not have a house to return to it.

“I don’t know what to think anymore. My heart is still trembling when I think at that moment when the earthquake hit,” said Dow Khan, 72, who we met while she was waiting for the waiting list, with her little grandson next to her. “I am running out, but my house went. I live under a tree. Come and look.”

She works as a wash and says her son suffers from a disability that does not allow him to work.

“Where will I live now? I’m in a big problem. I live next to the dumping of the garbage. Some people gave me rice and some clothes. We ran out in these clothes that we wear.

“We have no person to save us. Please help us.”

Another elderly woman is harmonious, tear eyes, “no one has been distributed yet. So we haven’t eaten.”

Most of the vehicles we saw withdrawn to distribute supplies were small trucks with limited stocks – donations from individuals or small local organizations. There is not enough place for the number of people in need, which leads to a stampede to seize any available comfort.

Parts of the main hospital in Mandalay were also damaged, and so on in a difficult situation, rows and rows of family are placed in the hospital complex for patients.

SHWE GY Thun Phyo, 14, has a brain injury and has blood eyes. She is conscious but does not respond. Her father tries to make her comfortable as possible.

There were very few doctors and nurses around them to deal with the demand for treatment, which means that families intervene to do what should be the medical staff.

He visited a swollen belly due to a serious abdomen injury. Her daughter is sitting behind her, holding her, and lovers, to give her some relief from heat.

We could not spend much time in the hospital for fear of being arrested by the police or the army.

Since the window to find the survivors of the earthquake is narrowing, those who are brought to the hospital are increasingly dead.

Nan Sen Seen, who was waiting outside the collapsed building where her son was besieged, was initially a routek, but now it seems that she is preparing to face what appears to be the most likely result.

“I am sad. My son and his young sisters loved me. He fought to support us,” she says.

“I just hope to see my son’s face, even if he dies. I want to see his body. I want them to do everything they can find his body.”