SINGAPORE - The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF), in Myanmar to aid search-and-rescue efforts following the massive earthquake that struck the country on March 28, helped rescue a man trapped under a collapsed three-storey building on March 30.
The operation, which took about eight hours, was conducted with members of the Naypyitaw Fire Service Department, the SCDF said in a Facebook post.
The force had deployed an 80-strong contingent and four search canines a day earlier to assist in rescue efforts in the country, which was struck by a 7.7-magnitude earthquake near Mandalay, its second-largest city.
The death toll stands at over 1,600 in Myanmar and at least 17 in neighbouring Thailand.
More than 3,400 have been injured in Myanmar, and at least 139 are still missing.
In its social media post on March 30, the SCDF said it began search-and-rescue operations at around 1am in the Zabuthiri Township in Naypyitaw.
After the local authorities reported that a man was trapped within a three-storey residential building in Ngu Wah Road, the SCDF said it worked with local rescuers to free the quake victim, who was stuck under concrete slabs.
They gained access to the collapsed structure through a narrow passage.
“Throughout the rescue operation, the team maintained contact with the person, and water was provided to the man through a plastic tube inserted through crevices between the concrete slabs,” said the force, adding that the man was conscious and able to communicate.
“Cutting and breaking equipment were used to break the concrete slabs trapping the man.”
After eight hours, the man was rescued and taken to hospital after being assessed by an SCDF paramedic to be in a stable condition.
Earlier in the day, the team had assessed another disaster site in Aungmyay Theinkha Street, where two three-storey residential buildings had collapsed.
No signs of life were detected, said the SCDF, even though life detection equipment and search canines Frenchy and Rizzo were deployed to locate potential survivors.
Known as the Operation Lionheart contingent, the SCDF’s team arrived in Naypyitaw on the evening of March 29.
The team consists of the elite Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team, full-time national servicemen doctors, paramedics, and search and hazardous materials specialists.
The mission is expected to last up to 14 days, said Operation Lionheart chief Tay Zhi Wei.
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