Catholic Church helping Myanmar earthquake victims
Yangon (AsiaNews) – The number of homes destroyed has almost reached 500, the number of wounded is around 120, and many people are still missing, lying under the rubbles created by the quake. The parish centre founded by Fr Clemente Vismara is among the collapsed buildings, Fr Stephen Ano told AsiaNews. He is the director of the Karuna Kengtung Social Service, a Catholic social organisation operating in Myanmar, currently working in the areas hardest hit by the earthquake. Meanwhile, Burmese sources complain that hundreds of earthquake patients hospitalised in Tachilek on Saturday disappeared by Sunday, in what they say was a Burmese government effort to minimise the number of victims.
Official sources said that 75 people were killed in last Thursday’s 6.8 magnitude earthquake that hit various areas of Shan State along the border with Thailand and Laos. A government official said under anonymity that the toll could be as high as 100. Red Cross officials have instead reported at least 150 dead, a number bound to rise as more remote areas are reached.
Quoting local sources, The Irrawaddy, a dissident newspaper, said that the military junta removed large numbers of wounded in order to minimise the number of people affected. On Saturday, the hospital in Tachilek had hundreds of quake patients, 700 according to internal sources, but the next day, they were gone. Hospital staff and other patients said they were “sent away” by local authorities without explanation.
In the meantime, the Burmese Catholic Church is actively involved in relief operations in the earthquake zone through the Karuna Kengtung Social Service.
Speaking to AsiaNews, Fr Stephen Ano said that just in the diocese of Kengtung (Shan State), major damages were reported in Tachilek, Tarlay, Mong Lin, Na Yaung and the village of Mong Khone.
About “450 houses were destroyed” and “at least 120 people were wounded”, eventually taken to hospitals in Tachilek and Kengtung, because the “hospital in Tarlay was destroyed.”
At least “14 places of worship have collapsed”, including churches and Buddhist temples. The parish centre founded by Fr Vismara was totally destroyed, leaving only a newly constructed clergy house standing.
At least nine government buildings were also destroyed, including schools and a hospital.
Five days after the quake, many people are “still missing.”
Through AsiaNews, Fr Stephen pleaded for help. “We need temporary shelters for the displaced,” he said. “We accept everyone, irrespective of race and creed,” but “we even lack cooking utensils.”
Since “We must provide medical care and treatment to the wounded that are not hospitalised,” he said, “any contribution towards relief and rehabilitation work is very much appreciated.”
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08/01/2005
