Sagaing witness laments looting by soldiers while people dig through the rubble

A health worker talks to AsiaNews about fleeing her village in Mandalay due to airstrikes by junta planes that continued after the earthquake. Only last night, the military announced a 20-day ceasefire in the most affected areas to facilitate aid. But few people trust their words.

Mandalay (AsiaNews) – Myanmar’s military junta announced a 20-day ceasefire last night to allow foreign aid and relief to reach areas devastated by the 7.7-magnitude earthquake that struck the country last week. But few people trust the government, which came to power in 2021 in a coup d'état that sparked a brutal civil war.

Among the latest developments, junta leader General Min Aung Hlaing, flew to Bangkok, Thailand, for a summit of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for MultiSectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC).

Official sources indicate that more than 3,000 people died in the earthquake, but the actual number is probably much higher. Unfortunately, rescue efforts are hindered by the state of the infrastructure, heavily damaged, with communications frequently interrupted.

Amid all this, some reports claim that Myanmar’s military has deliberately sabotaged aid operations in rebel-controlled villages. This comes out of the testimony of a health worker who came to AsiaNews.

We report her story below. She talks about the military’s total lack of interest towards quake victims. Hers is among the many voices that are struggling to be heard, but are more important than ever.

On March 28, 2025, a very powerful earthquake occurred in the conflict-prone village of Min Kun, destroying houses and killing many people. One of the survivors is Khin Mar Hlaing, a 40-year-old paramedic whose experience embodies the effects of an earthquake and the impact of the armed conflict.

Min Kun had been a war area even before the earthquake occurred. Clashes between the People’s Defence Force (PDF) and the Myanmar military (SAC) had thrown the village into a state of panic. Amid the sirens, airstrikes, which were indiscriminate, destroyed people’s houses and hurt villagers who were attended by Khin Mar Hlaing.

“I was treating the victims of landmines and the civilians who were hit by bullets. The situation was already terrifying. I also heard some women had been raped and sexually assaulted by Myanmar army soldiers,” she said.

As the situation worsened, the people ran for their lives and sought refuge in the main Buddhist monastery, which was believed to be the safest place. But safety proved elusive. On March 28, a series of three major earthquakes occurred in the region.

“At first, I thought it was another airstrike. The ground shook violently,” she said. As a result, the whole group had to run for their lives out of the monastery when the building started to break down and collapse.

During the confusion, Khin Mar Hlaing helped others to extract trapped villagers from the wreckage and attend to the wounded. But their hardship did not end there.

“After the third quake, around 100 SAC soldiers entered the village. Only five of them helped with the rescue operation and assisted the victims,” she explained. “The others were looting the rooms of the monastery and houses in the neighbourhood, threatening the inhabitants and putting the fear of God into them.”

For Khin Mar Hlaing and many others, the actions of the military were appalling, a realisation that the earthquake was not the only danger to their lives.

“In the following days, about sixty of us had to flee the village through the jungle. We were scared – of the military, of more airstrikes, and of what might come next,” she said.

Their way to safety was three long days and included crossing the mountains with scarce food and water. Finally, they got to another monastery in Mandalay that hosted internally displaced persons.

“My highlight is this: The SAC is using this disaster to further military operations and airstrikes, especially in Sagaing and other ethnic areas and central Myanmar,” she said.

Her story is not only one of survival but also a plea to the world to pay attention not only to the natural disaster but also to the human rights violations that are occurring in the aftermath of the earthquake.

• myanmar
• sagaing
• civil war
• earthquake
• witnesses
• military junta
• abuses
• rape
• looting