Chinese teams rescue six in quake-hit Myanmar

Currently, about 400 Chinese earthquake experts and rescue and medical personnel are participating in the earthquake relief efforts across Myanmar,

the spokesman said

The Yunnan rescue medical team arrived in Myanmar 18 hours after the earthquake, becoming the first international rescue team to enter the earthquake-hit area, and successfully rescued a trapped victim in cooperation with local rescue forces,

he said

Access to all victims is an issue ... given the conflict situation. There are a lot of security issues to access some areas across the front lines in particular,

Arnaud de Baecque, resident representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Myanmar, told Reuters

We have to speed up. We're not going to stop even after 72 hours,

she added

There is currently a shortage of drinking water and electricity. Many of the damaged buildings remain uncleared, and a foul smell has begun to spread in some areas, raising concerns over potential outbreaks of infectious diseases if not properly addressed,

Cheng Wei, a Chinese citizen who runs a hotel in Mandalay, told the Global Times

The earthquake has left local residents with limited access to essential supplies. We want to do what we can to support the local community,

Wu told the Global Times

The situation is so dire that it's hard to express what is happening,

AFP news agency quoted Aung Myint Hussein, chief administrator of Mandalay's Sajja North mosque as saying

I’ve experienced a lot of incidents, but never been busy like this before,

he said

The airstrikes in the wake of the earthquake are outrageous, yet there are also mind-numbingly cruel reports of curfews being enforced that prevent people conducting search and rescue operations for loved ones after 10pm,

wrote Manny Maung of the Australia-based Lowy Institute

While international rescue teams reportedly arrived in Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw, the Myanmar military was still attacking its own people."

Manny Maung for the Lowy Institute

Local fire brigades, ambulance crews, and community organisations have mobilised, but the military - who would normally be mobilised to support in such a crisis - are nowhere to be seen... The regime also continues to launch airstrikes, including in affected areas. That needs to stop."

Richard Horsey, the senior Myanmar adviser at Crisis Group, quoted by Reuters

The scale of deaths and injuries is not yet fully understood and the numbers are expected to increase,

the WHO said in a report

Even before this earthquake, nearly 20 million people in Myanmar were in need of humanitarian assistance,

said Marcoluigi Corsi, the UNICEF Representative to Myanmar

You have these flooding events...that lead to disease outbreaks, they lead to displacement and food insecurity, but then with damaged hospitals and clearly damaged sanitation systems, it’s really increasing the risk of disease outbreaks,

she added

This latest tragedy compounds an already dire crisis and risks further eroding the resilience of communities already battered by conflict, displacement, and past disasters,

the UN's Myanmar country team said, calling for unimpeded access for aid convoys, medical personnel and assessment teams

The military is conducting security checks everywhere, making it impossible for them to enter,

Dr. Wai Zan said

Really extreme violence was carried out: beheadings, dismemberment and different sorts of violent displays meant to intimidate the population,

said Morgan Michaels, a research fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies

We are not allowed to freely enter and provide assistance,

said U Tin Shwe, a resident of Sagaing who was standing outside a military barricade at a monastery that had toppled, with monks still trapped under the debris

Nothing is really getting there,

said Joe Freeman, Amnesty International’s Myanmar researcher

Many of the people trapped under collapsed houses are already dead,

he said