An emergency appeal has been launched after the 7.7 magnitude earthquake which struck Myanmar last week.
More than 2,800 people were killed by the quake and its aftershocks on Friday, with thousands more injured and buildings in the worst hit areas in ruins.
It is thought the actual number of dead could be much higher.
Today, the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) has launched an appeal to raise funds for those impacted.
DEC charities and local partners are already in Myanmar to assist with search and rescue efforts, as well as provide emergency aid.
Saleh Saeed, committee chief executive, said the devastation from the earthquake “is heart-breaking, with thousands of people suddenly losing loved ones in the most shocking of ways”.
He said Myanmar was “already in the grip of a severe humanitarian crisis” in the wake of the 2021 military coup, and now “the situation is ever more critical”.
“We know that money is tight for many people here in the UK as the cost-of-living crisis continues, but if you can, please do donate to support the hundreds of thousands of people, children and families caught up in this deadly disaster,” he added.
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The scale of the damage
Arif Noor, country director of CARE International in Myanmar, added that emergency relief teams “are witnessing complete devastation everywhere we go”.
“People traumatised by the earthquake are sleeping on the streets, with no clean water or food to eat and nowhere to escape from the heat,” he said. “They simply don’t know where to turn or where to find safety.”
It comes after a local in Mandalay – Myanmar’s second biggest city – told Sky News that “when we pass near the destructions, the collapsed building or very damaged building, we can smell dead bodies.
“The smell of the dead bodies after four days… it still remains,” he said, before adding: “For the social assistance association… they need permission [to give aid] especially from the government.
“If they don’t have permission, then they cannot do anything.”
Read more:
A gruelling search for bodies at the epicentre
How quake left some areas almost completely destroyed
Footage shows what it’s like to be trapped in rubble
Broadcast appeal films to raise funds to support the charities’ responses will air on Sky later today, as well as on BBC, ITV, Channel 4, and Channel 5.
Every pound donated by the British public will be matched by the government through its UK Aid Match scheme, up to the value of £5 million.
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