At least 60 people have died and more than 100 are missing in floods and mudslides caused by the remnants of Typhoon Yagi in Mandalay Region’s Yamethin Township, according to residents and charities.
Rescue efforts wound down in Yamethin on Saturday after floodwaters receded. Charities have now begun rehabilitation work in the township.
Casualties were mainly reported in eight hillside villages around the Moe Hti Moe Mi gold mine in eastern Yamethin, where houses were swept away by the torrents or buried in mudslides.
“Only about 30 bodies have been retrieved so far,” a charity worker from Yamethin told The Irrawaddy on Saturday.
Hardest hit was Thabyaypin village, where 80 residents went missing after torrential floodwater swept away most of its 350-plus houses, leaving only some 40 standing.
“About 15 bodies were buried in the villages where they were found. I heard 20 bodies were also recovered in Chaungpya village. More than 100 people are missing according to missing persons reports we have received from villages,” the charity worker said.
Another charity worker said two-thirds of Thabyaypin and Chaungpya were destroyed by flooding and mudslides.
“We still can’t get to that area because landslides are blocking our way,” he said.
Many villages were flooded after the Paunglaung River in Yamethin Township burst its banks due to heavy rain last Wednesday. Floodwaters receded the following day.
Locals said junta rescue teams had still not arrived in the area on Saturday, leaving survivors to struggle without food, shelter or medicines.
“People were killed by mudslides. In some villages, houses were buried. People are only helping each other, and no officials have come so far,” one resident said on Saturday.
Pro-junta Telegram channels reported that hundreds of people were killed and some 700 people were missing in mudslides around the gold mine in Yamethin.
These figures were dismissed by a charity worker at the disaster scene.
“We are still conducting rescue operations. Some 30 to 50 residents are missing in a couple of villages. So, the total number cannot be more than 100.”
A volunteer participating in the Thabyaypin rescue said: “Houses were swept away by the floods but most people managed to evacuate. Volunteers are still searching for victims who were swept away by floodwater.”
On Thursday, the local junta-run Fire Services Department said 17 bodies had been recovered in Yamethin Township.
Charities in Yamethin said they did not have enough boats, life jackets and other equipment for rescue operations.
Rehabilitation work by firefighters and charities is being funded mainly by donations from members of the public, a charity worker told The Irrawaddy on Monday.
On Sunday, the regime said the floods have displaced 300,000 people, with 113 people killed and 46 missing. Local reports indicate the death toll may be higher.
