The Latest: Countries sending humanitarian aid after Myanmar earthquake

BANGKOK (AP) — The death toll from Myanmar's powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake keeps climbing amid rescue efforts.

The military government said Saturday that 1,644 people have been killed, with thousands of others injured and dozens missing. Myanmar’s main resistance movement, meanwhile, announced a partial ceasefire to facilitate relief efforts.

The earthquake struck midday Friday, followed by several aftershocks, including one that measured 6.4.

In Thailand, the quake rocked the greater Bangkok area, leaving 10 people dead.

Several countries, including Malaysia, Russia and China have dispatched rescue and relief teams.

Here is the latest:

Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government, which coordinates the popular struggle against the ruling military, has announced a unilateral partial ceasefire to facilitate earthquake relief efforts.

An announcement said that its armed wing, the People’s Defense Force, will implement a two-week pause in offensive military operations starting Sunday in earthquake-affected areas.

It said it would “collaborate with the U.N. and nongovernmental organizations to ensure security, transportation, and the establishment of temporary rescue and medical camps,” in the areas it controls.

An initial situation report on earthquake relief efforts issued by the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that it's mobilizing with other groups, and $5 million has been allocated from a Central Emergency Response Fund for “life-saving assistance.”

“Supply infrastructure and communication towers were severely impacted, electricity and water services were disrupted, including in Yangon Region,” it noted. “Landline, mobile and internet networks remain unstable.”

The immediate planned measures include a convoy of 17 cargo trucks carrying critical shelter and medical supplies from China that is expected to arrive on Sunday, it said.

It noted the severe damage or destruction of many health facilities, and warned that a “severe shortage of medical supplies is hampering response efforts, including trauma kits, blood bags, anaesthetics, assistive devices, essential medicines, and tents for health workers.”

Myanmar’s ruling military said on state television that the confirmed death toll from the 7.7 magnitude earthquake increased to 1,644.

The new total is a sharp rise compared to the 1,002 total announced just hours earlier. The number of injured increased to 3,408, while the missing figure rose to 139 from Friday's quake.

Russia has sent a medical team to Myanmar to care for earthquake victims, a Health Ministry official said.

According to Alexey Kuznetsov, the medics include specialists in infectious diseases, resuscitation and traumatology.

Separately, Russia’s Emergencies Ministry said that two planes carrying Russian rescue workers have landed in Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon.

Earlier, the ministry reported that a mission, including search and rescue teams, canine units, anaesthesiologists and psychologists, was on its way to the disaster-stricken country.

The ministry said that its rescue teams are equipped with “endoscopes and acoustic devices for searching for people in rubble up to 4.5 meters (nearly 15 feet) deep, as well as ground-penetrating radars and thermal imagers.”

Hong Kong sent a group of 51 search-and-rescue personnel to help with earthquake relief efforts in Myanmar. The group includes firefighters and ambulance personnel as well as two search-and-rescue dogs, among others.

The group brings along nine tons (18,000 pounds) of equipment including life detectors and masonry cutting machines, as well as an automatic satellite tracking antenna system that provides network connection, according to a statement on the Hong Kong government’s website.

Satellite photos from Planet Labs PBC analyzed by The Associated Press show the earthquake toppled the air traffic control tower at Naypyitaw International Airport.

The photos taken Saturday show the tower toppled over as if sheered from its base. Debris lay scattered from the top of the tower, which controlled all air traffic in the capital of Myanmar.

It wasn’t immediately clear if there had been any injuries in the collapse, though the tower would have had staff inside of it at the time of the earthquake Friday. It likely also stopped air traffic into the international airport, given all electronics and radar would have been routed into the tower for controllers.

Flights carrying rescue teams from China have landed at the airport in Yangon instead of going directly to the airports in the major stricken cities of Mandalay and Naypyitaw.

A spokesperson for the China International Development Cooperation Agency said that Beijing will provide Myanmar with 100 million yuan ($13.8 million) in emergency humanitarian aid for earthquake relief efforts.

An additional rescue team of 82 people left Bejing, hours after a different team of emergency responders from the Chinese province of Yunnan, bordering Myanmar, arrived in the earthquake-stricken country.

Additionally, 16 members of the Chinese civil relief squad Blue Sky Rescue Team in the city of Ruili, Yunnan, departed to Muse City in northern Myanmar to help with relief efforts, according to state broadcaster CGTN. Chinese authorities also sent a first batch of 80 tents and 290 blankets.

Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping extended condolences to Myanmar’s leader Min Aung Hlaing.

The earthquake was felt in parts of China's Yunnan province, though casualties were limited. Two people in Ruili suffered minor injuries and 847 homes were damaged, according to authorities. Some high-rise buildings and older houses in urban areas were also partially damaged, but power and water supplies and transportation and communications lines have been restored.

New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters says that his government will support relief efforts “via the International Red Cross Movement."

“Our thoughts are with all those who have lost loved ones, and to everyone else affected,” Peters posted on X.

South Korea will send the aid through international organizations to support recovery efforts following the recent earthquake.

The Foreign Ministry stated on Saturday that Seoul will closely monitor the situation and consider additional support if needed.

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese rescuers arrive at the Yangon International Airport in Yangon, Myanmar on Saturday, March 29, 2025. (Haymhan Aung/Xinhua via AP)

In this photo taken from video released by Russian Emergency Ministry Press Service on Saturday, March 29, 2025, Russian Emergency Ministry employees gather to board one of two planes with rescuers to Myanmar following Friday's earthquake, from a Moscow airfield, Russia. (Russia Emergency Ministry press service via AP)

Rescuers walk past the ruin of a high-rise building under construction that collapsed after a strong earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)

People stand near a damaged construction site of a high-rise building in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, March 29, 2025, as rescuers search for victims following its collapse after Friday's earthquake. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Rescuers search for victims at the site of a high-rise building under construction that collapsed after a strong earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, early Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)

Rescue workers help an injured women who was trapped under a building Friday, March 28, 2025, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

In this image provided by The Myanmar Military True News Information Team, Myanmar's military leader Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, center, inspects damaged road caused by an earthquake Friday, March 28, 2025, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. (The Myanmar Military True News Information Team via AP)

Rescuers search for victims at the site of a high-rise building under construction that collapsed after a strong earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, early Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)

Patients are evacuated outdoors at a hospital after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, March 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Tadchakorn Kitchaiphon)

Rescue workers take an injured man who was trapped under a building Friday, March 28, 2025, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

People wait at the damaged construction site of a high-rise building in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, March 29, 2025, as rescuers search for victims following its collapse after an earthquake. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)

Relatives of workers of a high-rise building under construction that collapsed after a strong earthquake wait as rescuers search for victims, in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Rescuers work at the site a high-rise building under construction that collapsed after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, early Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)

Volunteers look for survivors near a damaged building Friday, March 28, 2025, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

In this image provided by The Myanmar Military True News Information Team, victims caused by an earthquake is seen compound of government hospital Friday, March 28, 2025, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. (The Myanmar Military True News Information Team via AP)

BANGKOK (AP) — When the earthquake that hit Myanmar sent its tremors to Thailand, Naruemon Thonglek didn’t immediately know it also had collapsed a high-rise building under construction in Bangkok.

Seeing images of the debris on television news later, Naruemon immediately recognized the building where her long-time Burmese partner, his son and four of her friends had worked for the past month.

“My legs gave up. I lost all strength in my hands,” she said. “After the quake stopped I called him, messaged him, but there was no response. I couldn’t contact him. I sent him voice messages and he never read it. Then I knew for sure that he must have been inside.”

At least 18 people died in Bangkok, Thailand's capital, more than 800 miles (1,287 kilometers) from the center of the magnitude 7.7 quake in Myanmar on Friday, which killed more than 2,000 people there. According to Myanmar state television, the quake has so far killed 2,065 people, with more than 3,900 injured and about 270 missing.

Relief agencies expect those numbers to rise sharply, since access is slow to remote areas where communications are down.

In Bangkok, 78 people remain missing. Thai authorities are racing against time to find anyone left alive under the ruins as the crucial 72-hour mark passes. While the authorities have said they detected possible sounds of life, so far only one person was pulled alive from the rubble.

Tavida Kamolvej, Bangkok’s deputy governor, told reporters at the site Monday that crews are speeding up the search.

“Every second really counts,” she said.

Among those missing are the mother and younger sister of Chanpen Kaewnoi, who had been working at the site for a couple of months.

Chanpen said she couldn’t contact them after the quake, but later was told by a survivor that they had been on the fifth floor of the 30-story building.

“He told me that they ran from the fifth floor, and once he reached the ground, the building just collapsed,” she said. “He said he couldn’t find my mom and my sister. He said it was just a split second and he lost them.”

Naruemon said her partner, Kyi Tan, and the other five were assigned to work much higher up on the 26th floor. While her partner had extensive construction experience, this was his first high-rise project. As he left home on the morning of the quake, he said he would stay late in the hope of finishing his work by the end of the month.

Naruemon and Chanpen said they never heard their family members raise safety concerns while working at the building.

The authorities said they are investigating the cause of the building collapse as criticisms and concerns grow over safety and quality standards of Bangkok buildings. Chadchart Sittipunt, the city governor, has ordered a blanket inspection of all high-rise buildings in the capital.

Videos of the collapse show the building, which was meant to be a new State Audit Office, shaking a little before tumbling to the ground, sending a huge plume of dust into the sky as people scream and run away.

When Naruemon arrived at the site the following day, the scene of the ruins broke her spirit.

“I had a meltdown. I could only pray. I kept calling for them,” she said. “I wanted them to come back. I was so devastated. I didn’t know what to do.”

For two days, Naruemon walked around near the site with her family and friends, hoping to see any developments as heavy machines and rescue crews searched for survivors. She prayed and performed a religious rite asking the spirits to protect her loved ones.

“I want everyone trapped there to be found. In whatever conditions, I’m ok with it,” she said. “I’ve already made some peace with it. It’s been a few days already. A part of me still hopes they will survive, for a miracle, if it exists.”

Rescuers work at the site a high-rise building under construction that collapsed after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, March 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)

A woman reacts after being informed that her husband had died at the site of a collapsed under construction high-rise building in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

A relative consoles Kasorn, center, whose husband died in an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed on Friday, as they wait to take the body from the mortuary of a police hospital, in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, March, 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Natthanan Kaewkaiyasit, whose husband died in an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed on Friday, cries as she waits to take his body from a mortuary of a police hospital, in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, March 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Heavy machineries are employed to clear the huge pile of concrete from the site of an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed on Friday after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)

Rescuers talk as heavy machineries are employed to clear the huge pile of concrete at an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

A rescuers talks on his walkie-talkie as heavy machineries are employed to clear the huge pile of concrete at an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Rescuers return from the site of an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed on Friday after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)

A rescuer walks past a heavy machinery at an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Rescuers search for victims at the damaged construction site of a high-rise building in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, March 29, 2025, following its collapse after Friday' earthquake. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Rescuers make their way in from the top of debris to look for survivors from an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, March, 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

A rescuer looks for survivors at the site of an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, March, 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)

Rescuers walk past the ruin of a high-rise building under construction that collapsed after a strong earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)

Rescuers get ready for the day to work at the site of an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, March 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Punyang, 28, right, from Cambodia, sits with her relatives who have come to look for their uncle, who was working in an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed in an earthquake, in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, March, 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Buaban Konkham, 55, left, talks on her mobile as she waits for news of her son, who is missing after an under-construction high-rise building collapsed in an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, March, 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Naruemol Thonglek, top right, waits for news of her partner, sitting with other people looking for their relatives who were at the site where an under-construction high-rise building collapsed after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, March, 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Duria, who is searching for his relatives, talks on the phone after reading the sign board of number of people dead and missing after an under-construction high-rise building collapsed in an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, March, 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Chanpen Keawnoi shows the photograph of her missing mother to a woman who is also looking for her relatives after an under-construction high-rise building collapsed after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, March, 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Chanpen Keawnoi waits to hear the news of her missing mother and sister who were in the under-construction high-rise building that collapsed after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, March, 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Naruemol Thonglek, right, with her daughter, waits for news of her partner, who is missing after the collapse of an under-construction high-rise building after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, March, 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)