Myanmar’s administrative capital Naypyitaw was among the hardest hit parts of the country when the powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck last Friday.
Many buildings collapsed at the military regime’s nerve center, killing people and trapping them under the rubble, according to government employees.
But even there the regime failed to carry out any effective rescue and relief operations, leaving civil servants and their families buried under the collapsed Khayay Housing Complex and other staff housing in Zabuthiri Township.
A government employee said teams of junta officials did visit the collapsed sites, but without doing anything to help.
“Lots of armed soldiers came, but only for a photo op,” he said. “They did nothing practical. They only came for show. Even in Acre-2000 [a neighborhood of civil servants], where a lot of buildings collapsed, there was only one rescue team. The junta teams looked as if they would maybe supply meals and water but did nothing.”
Government housing in Naypyitaw is mostly four-story buildings, but many ground floors are gone and the upper stories sag precariously on top, or they have half subsided.
Hours after the earthquake, junta boss Min Aung Hlaing made an appearance at affected areas in Naypyitaw, accompanied by his personal photographer, a former army officer best known for underwater photography.
So far over 100 civil servants and their families are reported dead, but the death toll is likely to increase as many bodies have yet to be recovered from collapsed buildings.
“Far fewer people were killed directly by the earthquake than because of the lack of prompt rescue operations afterward,” another civil servant said. “In our neighborhood, some people survived through the second and third days after the earthquake. We could hear them shouting for help. But they died later and we could do nothing.”
Rescue efforts have only been directed toward Zeyathiri Township, where the military’s war office headquarters and several battalions are concentrated, according to residents.
Military defectors say war office headquarters, Infantry Battalion 85, Light Infantry Battalion 302, No. 3 interrogation and lodging camp, at least two other military units, and Naypyitaw Airport sustained substantial damage.
The regime has imposed a news blackout on the heavy casualties among military personnel and civil servants in Naypyitaw as well as damage to military complexes.
The region’s Pyinmana Township also suffered heavy casualties, but rescue operations are slow and many dead bodies have yet to be recovered, residents say.
“The situation is worse in Pyinmana than in Naypyitaw,” a local said. “Many old, poorly maintained brick buildings have collapsed, especially in the market, and the dead bodies are still there. We can smell the decomposition from the market. The military has carried out no rescue operations.”
Foreign rescue teams from Russia, China, and Singapore have been pictured conducting operations in areas where military units are based.
