The Ghanaian Minaret

Naypyidaw: More than 50 mosques across Myanmar were damaged when a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the country on Friday, the National Unity Government has disclosed.

Hundreds of Muslim worshippers are feared to be among the more than 1,600 people who died in the powerful earthquake which struck central Myanmar at a time when Muslim worshippers had gathered at mosques for prayers during Ramadan.

Two powerful earthquakes of magnitude 7.7 and 6.4 hit central Myanmar on Friday, causing death and large-scale destruction in both Myanmar and neighbouring Thailand.

Tremors were also felt elsewhere in the region.

Htet Min Oo was performing ritual ablutions before Ramadan prayers at a mosque next to his house in Mandalay.

His home collapsed along with part of the mosque, trapping half his body with the rubble of a wall that buried two of his aunts. Residents raced to pull them out, he said, but only one survived.

The 25-year-old told the Reuters news agency that his two uncles and his grandmother were also trapped under piles of concrete. With no heavy equipment available, he tried desperately to clear the rubble with his hands but could not shift it.

“I don’t know if they are still alive under the debris. After so long, I don’t think there’s any hope,” he said on Friday.

“There is too much rubble, and no rescue teams have come for us,” he added, his voice shaking as he broke into tears.

A 39-year-old resident of the Mandalay region described harrowing scenes as he tried to save a man trapped under the debris of a collapsed mosque in Sule Kone village but had to flee because of strong aftershocks.

“I had to leave him behind … I went in a second time to try to save him,” he told Reuters, declining to be identified. “I retrieved four people with my own hands. But unfortunately, three were already dead, and one died in my arms.”

The resident said 10 people had been killed there, and they were among 23 who died at three mosques that were destroyed in the village. Government restrictions had prevented them from being upgraded, he said.

Muslims are a minority in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar and have been repressed and marginalised by successive governments, while ultranationalist groups have in recent years incited violence.

The Rohingya, a large Muslim minority, have been among the most persecuted groups by the Myanmar authorities, suffering mass deaths and expulsion.

Myanmar authorities have for decades also made it difficult for Muslims to obtain permission to repair or build mosques, according to a 2017 report by the US Department of State, which said historic mosques have deteriorated because routine maintenance was denied.

Source: Aljazeera