Key points
- The nurses were widely hailed for their heroism
- 7 magnitude quake devastated several countries
- CCTV footage from the hospital has gone viral
ISLAMABAD: Nurses at a maternity center in Ruili, southwest China’s Yunnan Province, have made their best efforts to protect newborns when a deadly earthquake struck Myanmar, sending strong tremors across the border into Yunnan.
Chinese media broadcast a video, which showed that nurses are trying to protect newborns in China’s Yunnan Province.
The story of bravery was reported as Myanmar’s death toll from the disaster soared to 1,644.
7.7 magnitude quake
The figure was a sharp rise compared to the 1,002 announced just hours earlier, highlighting the difficulty of confirming casualties over a widespread region and the likelihood that the numbers will continue to grow from Friday’s 7.7 magnitude quake, AP reported. The number of injured increased to 3,408, while the missing figure rose to 139.
AFP reported that Jagan Chapagain, secretary general of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) — the world’s largest humanitarian network — said Red Cross teams in Myanmar were “racing against time” to rescue survivors, provide pre-hospital care and distribute emergency shelter materials.
“Sad stories”
In a video from Yangon, Marie Manrique, the IFRC’s acting head of delegation in Myanmar, said the numbers of fatalities and injuries were continually increasing.
“We do have some uplifting stories of actually finding people… however, the sad stories will continue to be coming in,” she said.
Besides infrastructure, many houses have collapsed, “and we really need to start thinking of what is going to happen to these people and their long-term housing needs,” she added.
