MSF: Myanmar earthquake - Head of Mission voice note

28 March 2025 - Extract from transcript of voice note recorded in Yangon by Medecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) Head of Mission in Myanmar - Federica Franco:

"While we are not in the areas that have been most impacted by the earthquake, all of our teams in the country really felt it, and all of our offices were also evacuated.

It was a particularly long one, to be honest, which is also why it was scary for a lot of us. Thankfully, all of our staff is safe, but we are deeply concerned about the people in the affected areas. At this time, it's quite hard to fully grasp the extent of the damage.

Official reports that just came out say that there is about 144 people that lost their lives and almost 1,500 that have been injured. But of course, we're expecting these numbers to rise.

The situation is very complicated because there are significant communication blackouts in some of the hardest hit areas, and this is due to the ongoing conflict.

Then on top of this, there's key roads that have been damaged, and that includes the Express Highway that goes from Yangon to Naypyidaw and Mandalay.

We had a team on the road earlier today, but they had to come back. Some of the airports are also closed.

And then, of course, as you can imagine, this is making it incredibly challenging, not just to get information, but also to reach physically those people that are urgently in need of help. Needless to say, MSF teams are ready to intervene, and our emergency response planning is underway.

The priority for us at the moment is to deploy assessment teams, and ideally, an emergency trauma care team. To do so, however, we need access, and time is particularly critical in situations like these, especially for those who need immediate care. MSF has made it very clear that we are willing to engage with all stakeholders, of course, to make this happen."

--ENDS--

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