“The scale of deaths and injuries is not yet fully understood and the numbers are expected to increase,” said the World Health Organization after a 7.7-magnitude earthquake in Myanmar.
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Healthcare facilities in the country are “overwhelmed”, the UN agency added, with three hospitals reported destroyed.
Medical staff are struggling to manage the influx of injured individuals – and there is an urgent need for trauma and surgical care, blood transfusion supplies, anaesthetics, essential medicines, and mental health support, authorities say.
Foreign assistance began to arrive over the weekend, following a rare request by Myanmar’s isolated junta for international help. WHO earlier issued an urgent flash appeal for $8m (£6.1m / €7.4m) for emergency support.
Red Cross officials have said Myanmar was facing “a level of devastation that hasn’t been seen over a century in Asia”.
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