A powerful earthquake hit Myanmar and neighbouring Thailand on Friday, turning a major hospital in the Myanmar capital into a “mass casualty area” and trapping dozens of workers in an under-construction skyscraper in Bangkok.
The 7.7-magnitude tremor hit northwest of the city of Sagaing on Friday afternoon at a shallow depth, the United States Geological Survey said. A 6.4-magnitude aftershock hit the same area minutes later.
The quakes wrought widespread damage, particularly in Myanmar, where buildings fell onto their sides, roads cracked open, and the well-known Ava bridge collapsed near the epicentre.
In the capital Naypyidaw, AFP journalists saw the entrance of the emergency department at the city’s main hospital pancaked onto a car.
Wounded at the 1,000-bed facility were being treated outside, intravenous drips hanging from their gurneys. Some writhed in pain, others lay still as relatives sought to comfort them.
A hospital official ushered journalists away, saying: “this is a mass casualty area.”
Another official said hundreds of injured people had arrived at the facility.
“I haven’t seen (something) like this before. We are trying to handle…