Myanmar deploys troops to aid search and rescue efforts after landslide

Chủ Nhật, 11/08/2019, 19:44

Myanmar troops were deployed to landslide-hit areas in southeastern Mon state on August 11 to support search and rescue efforts after the death toll from a recent landslide increased to 48.

According to Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun, regional military commands are working to help with the search and rescue process in disaster areas.

Helicopters will be used to supply food, he said.

A road is heavily damaged after landslide on August 9 in Mon state (Photo: VNA)

Every year, monsoon rains hammer Myanmar and other countries across Southeast Asia, submerging homes, displacing thousands and triggering landslides. However, the disaster on August 9 in Mon state was the worst in recent memory.

Heavy rains pounded Mon, Karen and Kachin states, flooding roads and destroying bridges.

Search and rescue efforts are being focused on hard-hit Mon state, which sits on the coast of the Andaman sea.

Floodwaters have submerged more than 4,000 houses in the state and displaced more than 25,000 residents who have sought shelter in monasteries and pagodas.

Vice President Henry Van Thio on August 10 visited landslide survivors in a Paung township village and spoke of his sorrow while promising relief assistance.

VNA