Chinese rescuers have been working around the clock at the site of a collapsed apartment block complex in Myanmar's quake-hit Mandalay, racing against time to rescue any remaining survivors.
At the collapsed Sky Villa Condominium complex, one of the largest groups of buildings toppled in the 7.9-magnitude earthquake which struck central Myanmar on Friday, the China Search and Rescue Team has already pulled three survivors out of the rubble, including a child and a pregnant woman, since it arrived on Sunday afternoon.
Late Monday night, the Chinese rescuers were seen combing through the ruins of the apartment complex, working with local responders to find signs of life, even though the critical 72-hour window for rescue efforts closed in the afternoon.
After collecting information from local residents about the possible location of buried people, the China Search and Rescue Team conducted further checks on these sites. The experienced rescuers used a variety of advanced devices, including a life detector called "Snake Eye" that can poke a camera into gaps to see if anyone is trapped.
The rescuers dug vertical holes in the top of the rubble to detect and search for missing persons. After confirming signs of life, they broke down barriers and lowered safety ropes to pull trapped survivors up. Of the three survivors successfully rescued so far, two were pulled out in this way.
The Chinese responders said they will not give up hope, despite the increasing difficulty of the rescue operation.
"The 72-hour golden period has passed, and the survival ability of the trapped people is getting weaker and weaker. In addition, the temperature is very high, making our rescue more and more difficult. In the face of this situation, we will not give up and will not abandon anyone. We are racing against the clock, using the 'Snake Eye' detector, radar life detector and other detection instruments to search for and rescue every survivor," said Li Guangnai, deputy leader of the China Search and Rescue Team.
The Sky Villa Condominium buildings are some of the most severely damaged buildings in Mandalay. Of the four 11-story apartment buildings in the complex, only the top six floors of one remained intact after the disaster, while the lower levels had completely collapsed.
An earthquake expert with the Chinese rescue team said that, according to our preliminary judgment, there are several possible reasons to explain why this group of buildings was so susceptible to the earthquake.
"First, the earthquake was of high magnitude, generating strong ground motion. Second, numerous ponds were found around the buildings, and the ground appeared muddy, indicating that the site has loose soil. Such soft ground significantly amplifies seismic motion. The third is that the building's height. Being an 11-story structure, its natural vibration period coincided with the predominant period of the earthquake and the site's natural frequency, leading to a resonance effect," said Dai Junwu, a researcher from the Institute of Engineering Mechanics of the China Earthquake Administration.
In addition to the China Search and Rescue Team, multiple Chinese rescue teams, including the China International Search and Rescue Team, a rescue team from China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, as well as several civilian rescue teams, have been searching through the night in the rubble in different sites across Mandalay.
The death toll from the devastating earthquake in Myanmar has risen to 2,056, with approximately 3,900 people injured and at least 270 reported missing, according to a report from the country's State Administration Council Information Team released on Monday.
Chinese rescuers work around clock to search for survivors at collapsed Mandalay apartment complex
Chinese rescuers work around clock to search for survivors at collapsed Mandalay apartment complex
