New Delhi, Mar 31 (UNI) India’s NDRF team has begun rescue operations at the U hla thein monastery in Mandalay where around 170 Buddhist monks are still stuck under the rubble following Friday’s massive earthquake.

The Indian Army Team is preparing to set up their Medical Service at a chosen site.

“We are also trying to get the NDRF team deployed at the Sky Villa, where four towers of 11-storey each have collapsed. The towers have several foreigners; or be deployed to any another site which the Government of Myanmar considers,” the MEA said in an update on Operation Brahma.

The relief material will also be given to the Secretary General of the state Mahanayak Committee (the second highest of the Committee in Myanmar) where around 2,000 monks are sitting outside the monastery (who are not injured but they have nowhere to go and no basic amenities), the MEA said.

Our teams will also be deployed to the Mandalay Palace, Maha Muni Pagoda, MIIT, and other such places where substantial damage has occurred.

We are providing assistance to members of the Indian community for their stay and food, the statement added.

According to reports, more than 90 people are believed to be trapped under the remains of the Sky Villa apartment block.

The shallow 7.7-magnitude quake struck north-west of Mandalay early afternoon on March 28, followed minutes later by a 6.7-magnitude aftershock.

The tremors destroyed buildings, downed bridged and buckled roads across swathes of Myanmar, with massive destruction seen in Mandalay, the country’s second-biggest city and home to more than 1.7 million people.

At the U hla thein monastery, more than 180 monks were taking the third session of a six-day exam for a senior level of monkhood when the tremors hit on Friday.

The earthquake brought down three levels of one part of the building, one on top of another.

On Friday and Saturday a total of 21 people were rescued alive, and 13 bodies had been recovered by Sunday morning from the monastery, reports said.

On Sunday, Indian naval ships INS Karmuk and LCU 52 were headed for Yangon with 30 tonnes of disaster relief and medical supplies.

On Saturday night, two C-130 aircraft of the Indian Air Force carrying 80 NDRF search and rescue personnel, and two C-17 aircraft with an 118-member Indian Army Field Hospital unit, landed in Nay Pyi Taw, as part of Operation Brahma to help quake-hit Myanmar.

According to sources, the total aid sent by India through air sorties and Naval ships so far equals to 137 tonnes. More aid will be sent as per requirement.

The two C-17 aircraft carrying the 118-member Indian Army Field Hospital Unit, that includes specialists, and medics, also includes Women & Child Care services along with 60 tonnes of relief material.

Earlier, two C-130 IAF aircraft also landed in the Myanmar capital carrying the 80-member National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) search and rescue team along with four canines, and 10 tonnes of relief material.

UNI RN