Woman Rescued Alive from Collapsed Mandalay Apartment Block

MANDALAY, Myanmar, 30 March 2025 (BSS/AFP) – Rescuers successfully pulled a woman from the wreckage of a collapsed apartment building in Mandalay on Saturday, 30 hours after a catastrophic earthquake struck Myanmar.

Applause and cheers erupted as 30-year-old Phyu Lay Khaing was carefully retrieved from the debris of the Sky Villa Condominium by rescue teams. She was immediately placed on a stretcher and evacuated from the rubble.

Her husband, Ye Aung, who had been waiting anxiously for updates, embraced her as emergency responders carried her away. “In the beginning, I did not believe she would survive,” Ye Aung told AFP while waiting for his wife’s rescue. “I am overjoyed to receive such good news.”

Ye Aung, a trader by profession, has two sons with Phyu Lay Khaing—eight-year-old William and five-year-old Ethan. As the ambulance departed for the hospital, he was seen holding his wife’s hand tightly through the vehicle’s window, overwhelmed with emotion.

The Scale of Destruction

A Red Cross official informed AFP that more than 90 individuals are feared to be trapped under the ruins of the collapsed apartment block. Authorities have mobilised extensive search and rescue operations to locate survivors amidst the devastation.

The disaster was triggered by a shallow 7.7-magnitude earthquake, which struck northwest of Mandalay on Friday afternoon. The initial tremor was followed by a powerful 6.7-magnitude aftershock, compounding the destruction.

Widespread Impact

The powerful tremors led to severe infrastructural damage across central Myanmar, including the collapse of buildings, destruction of bridges, and buckling of roads. Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city with a population of over 1.7 million, has suffered extensive losses, with emergency response teams struggling to cope with the scale of the disaster.

Rescue and Relief Efforts

Authorities and humanitarian organisations have launched large-scale rescue and relief efforts. The Myanmar Red Cross, local volunteers, and international aid groups are working tirelessly to provide emergency assistance, medical aid, and temporary shelters for those affected.

The latest rescue of Phyu Lay Khaing offers a glimmer of hope amidst the devastation, as efforts continue to locate and save more survivors in the days ahead.