Mandalay (Myanmar): “Don’t touch the body, we will handle it,” a family member told an Indian team that tried to retrieve the body of a woman from the rubble, days after a 7.7-magnitude earthquake jolted Myanmar killing more than 3,000 people.
The woman and her child appeared to have been struck while in prayer: the quake hit the country on the last Friday of Ramzan.
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel stepped back respecting the sentiments of the local people at this disaster site near Street 86A in the former royal capital of Mandalay.
“But the cruel passage of time had made the body fragile; at the slightest touch, it began to disintegrate. Realising they lacked the expertise to recover it intact, they hesitated. Their earlier reluctance turned into an urgent appeal,” a disaster force member told reporters here.
The NDRF personnel resumed their task, carefully extricating the woman’s body and preserving the dignity of her final posture in prayer.
“The same voices that had hesitated to accept help now whispered words of gratitude,” a senior NDRF official who was present at the site told PTI.
Deputy Team Leader of the NDRF Search and Rescue operation team in Myanmar, Deputy Commander Kunal Tiwari, said the team is trained in dead body management.
Aadam Hussein, 65, told PTI that the quake struck as the final Namaz of the Muslim holy month of Ramzan was being offered.
“We men were performing Alvida Jumme ki Namaz at the mosque while women and children were praying in their respective homes in the society,” said Hussein.
“Within moments, the ground convulsed violently, reducing a residential complex with around 50 people, mostly women and children, to ruins and leaving destruction in its wake,” he added.
NDRF teams were sent to Myanmar under a multi-agency relief mission called “Operation Brahma”. India has airlifted and shipped medicines, ration, food and tents to the country through its military aircraft and ships.
Mandalay city has been divided into four sectors—Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, and Delta—for relief and rescue operations. Local authorities have allocated Delta to India, while the other three sectors are being handled by China, Russia, and the Myanmar Fire Service Department.
The NDRF team has attended 11 of the 15 worksites allocated in Mandalay and has retrieved around 30 bodies so far.
“We are very satisfied with the efforts made by India. My daughter, who sustained severe injuries, was successfully operated on at the field hospital set up by the Indian Army,” Hussein said.
An elderly man, his voice thick with emotion, praised the Indian rescuers as the NDRF team continued searching for 24-25 missing people. “May Allah bless them.”
The Indian Army has also established a field hospital in the city. In the first two days of its operation, around 200 patients have been treated, with 34 admitted for further care.
“Locals have been arriving since they learned about the hospital. Besides earthquake victims, other people have also sought treatment, and we are happily treating them,” Lt. Col. Jagneet Gill, Commanding Officer of the 60 Para Field Hospital, told PTI.
The Indian Army is also providing food to earthquake victims who have taken shelter on the streets.
“Indian people are supporting us. We are searching for our family members in the rubble. We are thankful to Indians for assisting us at this difficult time,” said 25-year-old Ummer Malik.
The strong earthquake severely damaged numerous historic and religious sites, including mosques, pagodas, and Hindu temples. The Myanmar government stated that over 3,000 buildings were damaged, including about 150 mosques and pagodas.
Eighty personnel from the NDRF have been working tirelessly in the city including at the historic U Hla Thein monastery, where over 100 monks are still missing under a ‘pancake’-collapsed building, as well as at Ganga Ghat Hindu Temple and several other locations in the city.
In a ‘pancake’ collapse, floors of a building structure fall one over the other.
Most people have expressed their appreciation for the Indian disaster response team, including Hussein, who concluded his remarks by saying, “Thank You, India.”
