Three personnel from the Department of Dyke Management and Disaster Prevention arrived in Yangon before departing for earthquake-hit regions in Myanmar. — Photo from the department

HÀ NỘI — The Department of Dyke Management and Disaster Prevention under the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment has sent three staff members to voluntarily join the ASEAN Emergency Response and Assessment Team (ASEAN-ERAT) to assist Myanmar in overcoming consequences of the recent devastating earthquake.

They will collaborate with counterparts from other ASEAN countries to help the affected nation in coordinating international aid, making rapid damage assessments, and identifying urgent needs to mobilise resources for its recovery.

This marks the first time that the staff members from the department have participated in the ASEAN-ERAT, demonstrating the spirit of “One ASEAN, One Response: ASEAN responding to disasters as one in the region” as affirmed in the ASEAN Leaders’ Declaration.

Meanwhile, after hours of relentless search and rescue efforts, by 11am on April 1, the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defence’s rescue team successfully recovered three victims' bodies from the rubble in Nay Pyi Taw, and then handed over to the victim’s family and local authorities.

Working alongside the Vietnamese rescue team, Captain Yar Zar from the Fire Services Department of Myanmar’s Ministry of Home Affairs expressed deep appreciation for their thorough and meticulous efforts. Yar Zar said he was moved by how the Vietnamese soldiers carefully searched every corner of the rubble, determined to recover victims - whether alive or not.

He also highly praised the intelligence, creativity, and flexibility of the Vietnamese engineering soldiers, who have had multiple solutions to handle complicated situations, even in the absence of heavy machinery or when equipment could not be used.

Local media on March 31 quoted Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, chief of the military government, as saying that the death toll had reached 2,065, along with more than 3,900 others injured and over 270 missing. — VNA/VNS