Myanmar’s military government announces temporary ceasefire to aid quake efforts

By Eve Brennan, and Kocha Olarn, CNN

(CNN) — Myanmar’s ruling military government has announced a temporary ceasefire in operations against armed opposition groups to aid recovery efforts following Friday’s devastating earthquake that killed more than 3,000 people.

“For paying sympathy to the victims of the earthquake across the country, for providing the effective rescue operation and rehabilitation,” the truce would last until April 22, state-run MRTV said.

Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing will on Thursday attend a meeting in neighboring Thailand, where powerful tremors from the quake killed at least 22 people – including at least 15 who were working on a high-rise construction site, according to Bangkok’s Erawan Emergency Centre.

Aid agencies have warned that the destruction caused by the 7.7 magnitude quake is leading to a medical crisis in Myanmar.

The United Nations said on Wednesday that people in Mandalay city, one of the worst affected areas, are completely cut off from electricity and running water.

Field Coordinator for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Mikhael De Souza said that the lack of clean water could give rise to diseases.

“Water, both in quantity and in quality, is immensely lacking in the whole country and most specifically in the regions affected by the earthquake,” De Souza said in a voice note on Wednesday. “The lack of water is creating an issue in terms of immediate survival, but could also create an issue in terms epidemics in the future that we definitely want to avoid.”

The United Nations said cases of acute diarrhea and heat-related illnesses are rising in displacement sites and humanitarian efforts are being hindered by aftershocks and a lack of resources.

“Water trucking operations have begun in Naypyitaw territory, serving approximately 45,000 people, although more than 300,000 need this kind of support,” UN Secretary-General Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said on Wednesday.

The anti-regime authority Sagaing Federal Unit Hluttaw said over the weekend that bodies which had been recovered from under the rubble spread “a foul odor that poses serious health risks.”

The country has also been embroiled in civil war for four years sparked by a bloody and economically destructive military coup, which has seen junta forces battle rebel groups across the country.

The coup and ensuing conflict has battered its health infrastructure, leaving it ill-equipped to deal with major natural disasters.

Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government (NUG) – an offshoot of lawmakers deposed in the coup – declared over the weekend a temporary pause on offensive military operations, “except for defensive actions,” to help facilitate rescue operations following Friday’s earthquake. It said the pause would last two weeks from March 30.

But Amnesty International reported Tuesday that the military junta continued air strikes in the days following the quake, citing testimony it had gathered from people on the ground.

Swathes of the country lie outside the control of the military junta and are a run by a patchwork of ethnic rebels and militias, making compiling reliable information extremely difficult.

MRTV also reported Wednesday that chairman of the State Administration Council (SAC) Min Aung Hlaing will attend a regional summit in Thailand from April 3 to 4 to discuss the response to the earthquake.

Bangkok building collapse

Meanwhile, in Thailand’s capital Bangkok, rescuers detected signs of life on Thursday at the site where an under-construction high rise building collapsed by the tremors.

The city’s governor Chadchart Sittipunt said workers digging through the rubble “shouted into a shaft” and heard a voice back – giving hope to families who have faced an agonizing wait for days of any news of their loved ones.

“This signal suggests that someone is there, offering hope,” Chadchart said. “We are all moving forward with full effort. The operation to drill into the area continues.”

Thai officials on Wednesday ramped up the search for survivors at the site, where dozens are still feared trapped under the rubble.

At least 22 people have died in Thailand, of which 15 have been killed in the building collapse, according to officials.

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CNN’s Heather Law, Angus Watson, Mounira Elsamra, Teele Rebane, Sana Noor Haq, Ross Adkin, Alex Stambaugh, Rhea Mogul and Kocha Olarn contributed to this report.