Nay Pyi Taw/New Delhi: The Indian Army field hospital has begun treating patients in quake-hit Mandalay, even as another 30 tonnes of relief supplies, including food, medical supplies and tents, arrived by Indian naval ships and was handed over to the Myanmar authorities by Indian Ambassador Abhay Thakur.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar posted pictures on his X account of the Army Field Hospital, which was set up on Monday at the old airport in Mandalay, showing Indian medics attending to Myanmarese nationals.
The Indian Embassy in Yangon also posted pictures of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel cutting through collapsed concrete structures in Mandalay and other places in an effort to find survivors.
The Indian Embassy said in a post:
“Another 30 T of HADR aid, including food, medical supplies & tents, carried by @indiannavy ships INS Karmuk & LCU52, handed over by @AmbAbhayThakur to Yangon CM U Soe Thein today.
“The Indian Field Hospital in Mandalay was visited by Chief Minister of Mandalay U Myo Aung, and has begun treating patients,” it posted.
EAM Jaishankar posted that Indian naval ship INS Ghariyal has departed from Vishakhapatnam with 442 metric tonnes of essential food items.
India’s 80-member NDRF search and rescue team has been deployed in over a dozen affected sites in quake-hit Mandalay since March 30, while the Indian Army medical team has set up a field hospital at the old airport in Mandalay.
The Indian Embassy in Yangon, giving an update on Operation Brahma launched by India to assist quake-hit Myanmar, said that two Indian naval ships INS Satpura and INS Savitri, carrying 31 tonnes and 19 tonnes of HADR (Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief) arrived in Yangon on Monday.
The aid was immediately handed over at the Thilawa port by Indian Ambassador Abhay Thakur for distribution among the affected areas.
Another Indian Air Force C-130 aircraft is also expected to land directly in Mandalay today with 15 tonnes of HADR.
It said that on March 29, an IAF aircraft delivered the first tranche of 15 tonnes of humanitarian assistance in Yangon, including tents, blankets, sleeping bags, food packets, hygiene kits, generators and essential medicines. Ambassador Abhay Thakur handed over the assistance at Yangon airport, in the presence of the Chief Minister U Soe Thein.
On the night of March 29, two C-130 and two C-17 aircraft landed in Nay Pyi Taw, transporting an 80-member National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) search and rescue team, and over 120 medical personnel, together with a total of 85 tonnes of HADR assistance.
These were the first international assistance flights to Nay Pyi Taw.
The Embassy said the massive 7.7 magnitude earthquake that hit Myanmar on March 28 and its aftershocks have affected people across the country, including in Sagaing, Mandalay, Nay Pyi Taw, Shan and Bago regions.
India’s aid comes as the death toll from the earthquake has mounted to 2,056, with 3,900 people injured and 300 people reported missing.
