Myanmar quake death toll at 3,354, junta leader returns from summit

According to state media on Saturday, the death toll from the catastrophic earthquake in Myanmar rose to 3,354, with 4,850 people injured and 220 reported missing, as the U.N. aid chief, who is visiting, commended humanitarian and community organizations for spearheading the aid efforts.

The head of the military regime, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, returned to the capital Naypyitaw following an unusual foreign visit to participate in a summit in Bangkok involving South and Southeast Asian countries, during which he held separate meetings with the leaders of Thailand, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and India.

Min Aung Hlaing assured Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi of the junta’s intention to conduct “free and fair” elections in December, according to Myanmar state media. Modi requested that the ceasefire following the earthquake in Myanmar’s civil war be established permanently, and emphasized that the elections must be “inclusive and credible,” according to an Indian foreign affairs spokesperson on Friday.

Critics have condemned the proposed election as a façade to maintain the generals’ control via intermediaries. After ousting the democratically elected administration of Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021, the military has faced difficulties governing Myanmar, resulting in a devastated economy and essential services like healthcare, a situation worsened by the earthquake on March 28.

The civil war resulting from the coup has resulted in the displacement of over 3 million individuals, leading to extensive food insecurity, with over a third of the population requiring humanitarian aid, according to the U.N.

United Nations aid head Tom Fletcher spent Friday evening in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city, close to the earthquake’s epicenter, sharing on X that humanitarian and community organizations had responded to the quake with “courage, skill and determination.”

The U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights stated on Friday that the junta was limiting aid deliveries to earthquake-affected regions where communities opposed its governance. The U.N. office announced it was looking into 53 reported assaults by the junta on opponents, which included airstrikes, with 16 occurring after the ceasefire was declared on Wednesday.