A state of emergency was imposed after hundreds of workers were trapped in a collapsed under-construction building in Bangkok on Friday due to a strong earthquake that shook Myanmar and neighboring Thailand.
According to the US Geological Survey, the 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck Friday afternoon northwest of the city of Sagaing at a shallow depth. Minutes later, an aftershock with a magnitude of 6.4 struck the same region.
43 people were trapped after a 30-story building under construction collapsed in the Thai capital, according to police and medical officials.
Social media footage revealed that in a matter of seconds, the enormous structure meant for government offices was reduced to a tangle of debris and twisted metal.
Worapat Sukthai, Bang Sue district deputy police commander, told AFP, “I heard people calling for help, saying help me, when I arrived to inspect the site.”
“We are still figuring out the number of casualties, but we estimate hundreds of people are injured,” he stated.
An AFP team was at the National Museum in Naypyidaw, Myanmar, on the other side of the border, when the earthquake occurred.
The building started to tremble, and pieces dropped from the ceiling. Outside, uniformed employees rushed, some sobbing and shaking, others reaching for cell phones in an attempt to reach loved ones.
The vibrations caused neighboring roads to collapse and break, and traffic was heavy on the way to one of the city’s largest hospitals.
According to officials, the hospital was a “mass casualty area” following the earthquake.
A paramedic yelled, “Cars, move aside so the ambulance can get through,” as the ambulance moved between automobiles.
The injured were receiving treatment in the street outside the 1,000-bed hospital, with intravenous drips dangling from their gurneys.
While family members tried to console them, some writhed in agony and others lay still. People in both countries are forced onto the streets by the vibrations.
Duangjai, who lives in the well-known tourist destination of Chiang Mai in northern Thailand, told AFP, “I heard it and I was sleeping in the house, so I ran as far as I could in my pyjamas out of the building.”
Sai, 76, was employed at a minimart in Chiang Mai when the shake was initiated.
He remarked, “I hurried out of the shop with other customers.”
“I’ve never felt a tremor this strong in my life.”
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