NAYPYIDAW (MYANMAR) (ITALPRESS) – The ruling military junta in Myanmar has proclaimed a week of national mourning for the victims of the earthquake that struck the country on March 28.
The latest death toll provided by authorities is 1,700 people, but the real number could be much higher according to estimates by the U.S. institute United States Geological Survey (Usgs), which speaks of several thousand potential victims.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) has sounded an alarm over the condition of the nation’s health care system, which sees hospitals severely damaged by the earthquake and “overwhelmed” by the arrival of thousands of injured people.
Margaret Harris, a WHO official, told the BBC that at least three hospitals are completely out of service, while 22 others are “partially damaged and unable to function.” Aid workers, in addition to caring for the wounded, must also deal with what Harris describes as the “perfect conditions” for outbreaks of epidemics such as cholera.
-Photo IPA Agency-.
(ITALPRESS).
