Smell of death ‘fills the air’ near epicentre of Myanmar earthquake

Bodies trapped under the rubble of destroyed buildings in Sagaing and Mandalay cities are decomposing in Myanmar’s heat.

Sagaing, Myanmar – “Now with every gust of wind, the smell of dead bodies fills the air,” says Thar Nge, a resident of Sagaing – the city closest to the epicentre of the devastating magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Myanmar on Friday.

“At this point, more bodies are being recovered than survivors,” Thar Nge told Al Jazeera on Sunday, explaining how rescue workers from nearby Mandalay had just arrived in Sagaing earlier in the day, after the Yadanabon Bridge, spanning the Irrawaddy River, reopened.

The nearby Ava Bridge, built some 90 years ago during British colonial rule, was among the many structures to collapse when the quake hit more than 48 hours ago, killing at least 1,700 people and injuring more than 3,400 – a preliminary casualty toll that is certain to rise as the full extent of the catastrophe becomes known in the coming hours and days.

“Rescue teams from Mandalay couldn’t reach us immediately because a bridge collapsed. That’s why they only arrived today,” said Thar Nge, surveying the ruins of the city and telling how he had now lost hope of finding his son alive.

He said many in the city had lost loved ones.