Death toll from earthquake in Myanmar surpasses 1,000 (VIDEOS)

The death toll from the 7.7-magnitude earthquake which rocked Myanmar on Friday has reached 1,002, the state-run broadcaster MRTV has reported.

The updated figures are from “all the earthquake-affected areas nationwide,” the broadcaster said on Saturday.

According to an earlier report by Myanmar Now, at least 2,400 additional people have been injured across the Southeast Asian country.

The authorities said earlier that the number of victims is expected to keep climbing as rescue operations are continuing.

Earlier in the day, the country’s prime minister, Min Aung Hlaing, arrived in the city of Mandalay, which was heavily damaged by the quake. During his meeting with local officials, he “instructed them to carry out search and rescue operations as soon as possible and to take necessary measures” to assist those affected, according to MRTV.

The broadcaster had said earlier that 1,591 homes, 670 monasteries and 60 schools had been damaged in and around Mandalay, which is located some 17 kilometers from the epicenter of the quake.

Russia’s Emergencies Ministry said on Saturday that it has dispatched two planes carrying some 120 rescuers to assist Myanmar in dealing with the aftermath of the earthquake.

The tremors reached neighboring Thailand, where a skyscraper under construction collapsed in Bangkok. The city’s authorities have said that at least 10 people were killed, 16 were injured and 101 remain missing as a result of the natural disaster.

The Chinese embassy in Myanmar announced that a team of 37 rescue workers had been flown to the country. Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar said on X that New Delhi has dispatched a plane loaded with emergency personnel, paramedics and humanitarian aid to Myanmar.

On Friday, President Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences to the country’s leadership, saying that “Russia shares the grief of the friendly people of Myanmar.” He expressed his sympathy for those who have lost loved ones in the quake and wished a speedy recovery to all the injured, according to the Kremlin.