CGTN Europe interviewed Dr. Kyi Minn, the National Director of World Vision International Myanmar.
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00:00Now, Dr. Ki Min is the National Director of World Vision International in Myanmar.
00:05The earthquake struck near the city of Mandalay on Friday.
00:10Because Mandalay has been severely affected, we mobilized our staff yesterday evening.
00:16In Mandalay, more than 50% of the areas are affected.
00:20So if you see the affected population, without talking about injury and death,
00:29I think those who are affected by this will be more than 100,000 be affected.
00:34Tomorrow, we can start to distribute the basic essential package, especially the portable water
00:44and food. Because this is the summer time, and the weather is quite hot, especially in the
00:51center of Myanmar. So water will be a big issue during this time. And also, many people are also
00:58out of their accommodation, so they don't have the facility to cook food. And some markets are also
01:05closed. So we would like to provide the readily edible food. You don't need to cook, but like
01:13high energy biscuits or the instant nougat that you can eat it right away. So we start to do that.
01:19And in the very near future, we are also planning to distribute the
01:24temporary shelter tents. But currently, the constraint of challenge is how to
01:32transport these into the affected area. Because most of the roads, including the highway to
01:38Mandalay is badly damaged. So some of the truck or the big vehicle cannot go.
01:46And also the airport, Mandalay airport also being damaged. So the airport is currently closed. So we
01:56don't have any means to provide this item, either by road or by air. So we are thinking about other
02:02options. Hopefully, some of the flights can resume in a few days, hopefully.
02:09We heard yesterday that the military leaders in Myanmar have made this unprecedented call
02:18for international assistance. Yes, it is a really a call from the appeal from the
02:28the government on the international assistance. So because of that appeal,
02:34we heard that the rescue team from China and Russia are already in and there was some
02:42relief item supported by India. So other we haven't heard anything from the other countries
02:52yet. Do you anticipate that Myanmar is going to need many, many more people helping with
02:59rescue efforts? Yes, I think this is a very much in need, but also is a time sensitive. So
03:07if we can get, you know, qualified people to come here with, you know, put the background of the
03:15rescues and that kind of magnitude and scales of the earthquake, because we have never encountered
03:21that kind of magnitude of earthquake happened in Myanmar. And we, frankly speaking, we don't
03:27have any experience in addressing or relieving that, especially in rescue. So there's I still
03:33believe that there's many people stay trapped under the collapse building and we don't have any
03:40means and equipment to do it for from our side. But I think the government is government is trying
03:46to address this. That is why I think they are asking for international help. So hopefully
03:53the initial group that arrived from China again can solve some of the issue.