Anxious wait: Paing is waiting for word from his brother. — CHAN BOON KAI/The Star
GEORGE TOWN: Three long days have passed since the 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar, and Paing has not heard from his brother back home.
The 26-year-old Myanmar national from Lemyethna town, about 500km from the epicentre of the quake in Mandalay city, said he last heard from his 30-year-old brother just before the disaster.
Thereafter, hundreds of attempts to contact him through various means have been futile.
“I want to know if he is safe. Is he hurt or alive? But there is just no network connection to his mobile phone.
“I’ve asked my local friends on social media and sought help through gaming platforms for updates on my town, but nobody knows anything about my brother,” said the eatery helper.
Paing said his brother is a vegetable seller and lives in a single-storey house.
“I hope there was no major damage and he is at a safe place.
“I couldn’t sleep. I kept reading news of the disaster, but there has not been a whisper about my brother,” said Paing when met yesterday.
According to Internet traffic monitor Cloudflare Radar, Internet connectivity in Myanmar has remained disrupted for more than 30 hours since Friday’s earthquake.
The country’s network traffic was about 40% lower than usual, with most affected regions including Nay Pyi Taw (-93%), Mandalay (-92%), Ayeyarwady (-90%), Bago (-33%) and Shan State (-55%).
As of yesterday, more than 1,600 people have been confirmed dead from the disaster, touted as the worst in over a century.
The US Geological Survey estimated that the death toll could top 10,000 while rescue efforts are hampered by shortages of heavy machinery. In neighbouring Thailand, at least 11 deaths have been reported in Bangkok, the country’s capital, some 1,000km from the epicentre of the quake.
