The Myanmar Fire Services Department announced that 14 bodies, including those of mothers and children, were discovered in a single day on April 7th among the ruins of the collapsed Skylar Villa condominium in Aungmyethazan Township, Mandalay. These bodies were found amid the debris of buildings that collapsed during the earthquake on March 28th. Rescue operations are being led by specialized teams from China using modern technology and equipment.
The Skylar Villa condominium project, which began construction and sales in 2020, consisted of three 12-story buildings. As a result of the earthquake, two buildings completely collapsed, while the remaining building sank five floors into the ground. Rescue operations have been extremely challenging due to the massive volume of debris, and observers of the rescue operations report that the work poses significant dangers to rescue workers. The rescue teams are working under hazardous conditions, navigating through the rubble to search for victims, with access to all floors being particularly difficult. Currently, they can only retrieve bodies from ground level and upper floors that are accessible.
The bodies recovered are severely damaged, but rescuers can still identify them as women and children, according to family members waiting for news of their missing relatives. While rescue operations continue, those monitoring the situation suggest that finding additional bodies may prove extremely difficult due to the nature of the building collapse. The massive scale of destruction has created significant challenges for the rescue teams, who are risking their lives to recover victims from the unstable structure. The Chinese rescue teams are employing advanced technology to assist in the ongoing search and rescue efforts, which has led to the continuous discovery of victims among the ruins.
