UN calls for Myanmar support as quake death toll reaches 3,354

The United Nations called for the world to rally behind quake-hit Myanmar on Saturday as the death toll rose to 3,354, while a former USAID official said a US aid team had received notice they were losing their jobs after arriving in the disaster zone.

In addition to those killed by the Mar 28 earthquake, 4,850 people were injured and another 220 are missing, state media said.

During a visit to Myanmar's second-biggest city, Mandalay, which was near the epicentre of the 7.7 magnitude quake, United Nations aid chief Tom Fletcher appealed for international support.

"The destruction is staggering. Lives lost. Homes destroyed. Livelihoods shattered. But the resilience is incredible," he said in a post on X. "The world must rally behind the people of Myanmar."

Myanmar's neighbours, such as China, India and Southeast Asian nations, are among those that dispatched relief supplies and rescuers to aid the recovery effort in quake-hit areas that are home to about 28 million people over the past week.

The United States, which was until recently the world's top humanitarian donor, had pledged at least $9 million to Myanmar to support earthquake-affected communities, but current and former US officials say the dismantling of its foreign aid program has affected its response.

Three US Agency for International Development workers who had travelled to Myanmar after the quake were told they were being let go, Marcia Wong, a former senior USAID official, told Reuters.

"This team is working incredibly hard, focussed on getting humanitarian aid to those in need. To get news of your imminent termination - how can that not be demoralising?" said Wong.

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Friday the junta was restricting aid supplies to quake-hit areas where communities did not back its rule. The UN office also said it was investigating 53 reported attacks by the junta against opponents, including air strikes, of which 16 were after the ceasefire was declared on Wednesday.

A junta spokesman did not respond to calls seeking comment.

Free Burma Rangers, a relief group, told Reuters on Saturday that the military had dropped bombs in Karenni and southern Shan states on Thursday and Friday despite the ceasefire announcement, killing at least five people.

The victims included civilians, according to the group's founder, David Eubank, who said there had been at least seven such military attacks since the ceasefire.

ELECTION PLANS

The leader of the military government, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, reaffirmed to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi the junta's plans to hold "free and fair" elections in December when the two met in Bangkok, Myanmar state media said on Saturday.

Min Aung Hlaing made the rare trip to attend a summit of South and Southeast Asian nations on Friday, where he also met separately with the leaders of Thailand, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka.

Modi called for the post-quake ceasefire in Myanmar's civil war to be made permanent, and said the elections needed to be "inclusive and credible", an Indian foreign affairs spokesperson said on Friday.

Critics have derided the planned election as a sham to keep the generals in power through proxies.

Since overthrowing the government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021, the military has struggled to run Myanmar, leaving the economy and basic services, including healthcare, in tatters, a situation exacerbated by the earthquake.

The civil war that followed the coup has displaced more than 3 million people, with widespread food insecurity and more than a third of the population in need of humanitarian assistance, the UN says.