Several countries deployed rescue teams to Myanmar to boost relief operations amid a soaring death toll from Friday’s 7.7-magnitude earthquake, with many people still missing.
Military leaders in the isolated country took the rare step of requesting international assistance to deal with the quake. During previous major natural disasters, they have often shunned global aid offers.
A Chinese team was the first international rescue group to reach Myanmar’s biggest city Yangon on Saturday morning, according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.
Beijing will also provide 100 million yuan ($13 million) worth of humanitarian aid to Myanmar, its foreign aid agency said Saturday, after China’s leader Xi Jinping spoke on the phone to Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing.
China is the military junta’s most important ally, as well as being one of its biggest trading partners, investing billions of dollars in mining, oil and natural gas developments in the resource-rich country.
Russia was quick to follow China in deploying its own team of specialists, including dog teams, anesthesiologists and psychologists, the country’s emergencies ministry said.
Neighboring India has also sent a rescue and medical team, along with urgent humanitarian aid, its External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said on X Saturday.
Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia also pledged to send rescue teams.
