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More than 700 Muslims among Myanmar quake fatalities

Some 60 mosques were damaged or destroyed when the 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck at Friday prayer time

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Muslims offer morning prayers to start the Eid ul-Fitr festival, marking the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, on a road near destroyed mosques in Mandalay, Myanmar, on Monday. Photo: AFP
Associated Press
A Myanmar Muslim organisation has said more than 700 worshippers were killed when the 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck the country at Friday prayer time during the holy month of Ramadan.
Tun Kyi, a member of the steering committee of the Spring Revolution Myanmar Muslim Network, said on Monday that some 60 mosques were damaged or destroyed when the quake hit near Mandalay, the country’s second largest city.

It was not immediately clear whether those killed in the mosques were included in the official toll of more than 1,700 people killed in the earthquake so far.

A Muslim woman cries while offering morning prayers on a road near destroyed mosques in Mandalay, Myanmar, on Monday. Photo: AFP
A Muslim woman cries while offering morning prayers on a road near destroyed mosques in Mandalay, Myanmar, on Monday. Photo: AFP

Videos posted on The Irrawaddy online news site showed several mosques toppling during the quake, and people fleeing from the areas.

Tun Kyi said most of the mosques damaged were older buildings that were more vulnerable to earthquakes.

The country’s military-led government on Monday confirmed that the death toll was above 1,700 and said that more bodies had been pulled from the rubble.

Government spokesman Major General Zaw Min Tun told state-run MRTV that another 3,400 have been injured and more than 300 were missing. He did not provide more specific figures.

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