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Emily Hung

Oscar Liu

A Hong Kong rescue team arrived on Monday in one of the hardest hit cities of Myanmar’s earthquake and began searching for survivors in the rubble.
The Security Bureau said the 51-strong rescue team and two search dogs started their work after reaching Mandalay at noon.
“The rescue team is conducting a search-and-rescue operation in two areas in Mandalay with professional tools and search dogs,” the bureau wrote on social media.
“We immediately met the rescue team from mainland China upon arrival to learn about the situation … and will set up a makeshift tent as our base of operations next to theirs.”
Mandalay is home to about 1.5 million people and is the second-largest city in Myanmar, a country already ravaged by an ongoing civil war. The city is close to the epicentre of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck the country on Friday last week.
The death toll has exceeded 2,000, including three Chinese nationals. Fourteen Chinese citizens were reported injured as of 6pm on Monday, according to Xinhua and other news agencies.
Videos and photos uploaded to social media show many buildings either collapsed into rubble or tilting at precarious angles in Mandalay. Survivors are seen sheltering in small tents on the streets under the scorching heat, which has reached a high of 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).
Members of Hong Kong’s rescue team were seen gathering in front of collapsed buildings and wearing protective gear such as masks and helmets.
They met diplomats at the Chinese embassy in the capital, Naypyidaw, the day before and had planned to start surveying the area. But the Myanmese government reassigned the team to Mandalay.
Firefighter Kong Ka-ho told the media at Naypyidaw that the team would try its best to start work as soon as possible, although a crucial 72-hour mark since the earthquake struck was approaching.
Dr Axel Siu Yuet-chung, chairman of the accident and emergency coordinating committee at the Hospital Authority, said it had prepared drugs and equipment such as ventilators for the mission.
The rescue team swiftly departed the capital, but had to stop midway through a 10-hour drive to Mandalay due to a nighttime curfew.

The earthquake also shook neighbouring Thailand, bringing down a skyscraper under construction in the country’s capital.
Lawmaker Chan Pui-leung, who is also a general manager at China Taiping Insurance (HK) Company, warned that travellers who bought insurance after the earthquake would not be protected because the disaster happened before the policy’s effective date.
“Insurance policies typically stipulate that known risks are not covered. Insurance policies are meant to cover unforeseen risks, not situations where the risk, such as an earthquake, is already known at the time of purchase,” he told a radio programme on Monday.
Chan added that insurers typically denied claims if travellers planned to proceed to areas with known dangers, such as earthquake zones or regions under travel warnings or advisories, citing clauses in policies that often included “wilfully exposing oneself to needless peril”.
“In such a situation, if you proceed with your travel to that area, there’s a chance the insurance policy will not cover any claims,” he said. “This is because insurance primarily covers unforeseen events.”
He urged residents to buy insurance immediately after confirming flight tickets and accommodation, as most claims, including trip cancellations, would be covered once the policy was in effect.
“In that case, accommodation or transport expense compensation can be claimed under the trip delay category,” he said.
“If you were already there when the quake happened and had to return earlier, the paid accommodation, transport or tickets for local activities that cannot be refunded can be claimed under the early termination of the trip category.”


Dr Joyce Ching Tak-kwan, the head of international and relief services at Hong Kong Red Cross, said the organisation’s branch in Myanmar had activated an emergency operations centre to support local rescue efforts.
“We are deploying mobile clinics to the hardest-hit areas on the front lines, providing emergency and remote medical services. We’ve observed significant disruptions to the power supply and many areas lack access to clean drinking water,” she told the same radio programme.
“We are concerned about the potential for outbreaks of infectious diseases as there have already been reports of diarrhoea.”
She added that the ongoing aftershocks were exacerbating the earthquake’s destruction, severely damaging critical infrastructure, such as roads and bridges, which were essential for reaching major cities.
“Compounding this, many affected areas are under restricted access by the military government, significantly hindering Red Cross volunteers and other aid workers from delivering crucial assistance to those in need,” she said.


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Hong Kong’s rescue team is on the ground in Mandalay. Photo: Handout

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A powerful earthquake rocked central Myanmar on March 28, and also severely affected Thailand. Photo: AFP

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The rescue team at Hong Kong International Airport. Photo: Jelly Tse

Chief Executive John Lee (left) has expressed his gratitude to the rescue team. Photo: Jelly Tse

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Death toll has exceeded 2,000, including three Chinese nationals, with rescue team arriving in city near quake’s epicentre


Death toll has exceeded 2,000, including three Chinese nationals, with rescue team arriving in city near quake’s epicentre.


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Myanmar earthquake: Hong Kong rescue team begins work in Mandalay

Death toll has exceeded 2,000, including three Chinese nationals, with rescue team arriving in city near quake’s epicentre

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