Lines of wounded at Myanmar hospital after powerful quake

by Joe STENSON with Chayanit ITTHIPONGMAETEE in Bangkok

A stream of casualties were rushed to the hospital in Naypyidaw -- some in cars, others in pickups, and others carried on stretchers, their bodies bloody and covered in dust after a huge quake

Rows of wounded lay outside the emergency department of the 1,000-bed hospital in Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw on Friday, some writhing in pain and others in shock after a powerful earthquake.

A stream of casualties were brought to the hospital -- some in cars, others in pickups, and others carried on stretchers, their bodies bloody and covered in dust.

"This is a mass casualty area", a hospital official said, as they ushered journalists away from the treatment area.

The hospital itself was hit by the terrifying tremors, which buckled roads and ripped tarmac apart as the ground vibrated violently for around half a minute.

The hospital's emergency department was itself heavily damaged, a car crushed under the heavy concrete of its fallen entrance.

"Many injured people have been arriving, I haven't seen anything like this before," a doctor at the hospital told AFP.

"We are trying to handle the situation. I'm so exhausted."

Some cried in pain, others lay still as relatives sought to comfort them, intravenous drips from their arms.

"Hundreds of injured people are arriving... but the emergency building here also collapsed," security officials at the hospital said.

Others sat stunned with their head in their hands, blood caking their faces and limbs.

Myanmar's military chief Min Aung Hlaing visited the hospital, surveying the wounded lying on stretchers.

- 'Help me' -

The Myanmar capital is some 250 kilometres (150 miles) south from the epicentre of the 7.7-magnitude shallow tremor, that hit northwest of the city of Sagaing on Friday afternoon, according to the United States Geological Survey.

A 6.4-magnitude aftershock hit the same area minutes later.

A team of AFP journalists were at the National Museum in Naypyidaw when the earthquake struck, with chunks of the ceiling falling and cracks running up the walls.

The road to one of the biggest hospitals in Naypyidaw was jammed with traffic.

As ambulance weaved between vehicles, and shouting paramedic pleaded to be allowed to get through to reach the care of doctors.

Those inside ran outside, many trembling and tearful, and frantically trying to call family members on their phones to check if they were alive.

Powerful tremors were also felt in neighbouring China and in Thailand, where buildings in the capital Bangkok were shaken violently.

Worapat Sukthai, deputy police chief of Bangkok's Bang Sue district, said he could hear the sound of people screaming for aid trapped in the debris after a 30-story under-construction tower block collapse.

"I heard people calling for help, saying help me," he told AFP. "We estimate that hundreds of people are injured but we are still determining the number of casualties."

"I fear many lives have been lost. We have never experienced an earthquake with such a devastating impact before."

Bangkok residents are used to tremors -- and know to find a safe space outside if possible -- but many said the force on Friday came as a shock.

"I was shopping inside a mall when I noticed some signs moving, so I quickly ran outside," said Attapong Sukyimnoi, a broker. "I knew I had to get to an open space -- it was instinct."

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© Agence France-Presse