The death toll from a landslip triggered by monsoon rain in eastern Myanmar rose to at least 34, an official said on Saturday, as emergency workers continued a desperate search through thick mud for scores more feared missing.
A huge brown gash on the hillside marked where the deluge of mud flooded onto Ye Pyar Kone village in Mon State on Friday, wiping out 16 homes.
Search and rescue teams worked through the night with excavators and their bare hands, trying to find survivors and recover bodies from the deep sludge, continuing through Saturday. “We found 34 dead, and the search for dead bodies is still ongoing,” said local administrator Myo Min Tun. So far, 47 people have been injured while officials believe that more than 80 people could still be missing.
Annual monsoon season
Myanmar is battered annually by a monsoon season which strikes countries across Southeast Asia, leaving tens of thousands displaced from flooded homes and setting off deadly landslips.
Torrential downpours have burst riverbanks across the country while coastal communities have been warned of higher tides.
Around 89,000 people have been displaced by floods in recent weeks, though many have since been able to return home, according to the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
