This archive report was first published on 10 August 2019.
Published on August 10, 2019, a landslide triggered by monsoon rains in eastern Myanmar has left a trail of destruction and loss of life.
At least 41 people have lost their lives in the disaster, with scores feared missing. The landslide occurred in Ye Pyar Kone village in Mon state on Friday, wiping out 27 homes.
Search and rescue teams worked tirelessly through the night, using excavators and their bare hands to recover bodies from the deep sludge. The death toll has risen to 41, according to township administrator Zaw Moe Aung.
"There are no humans left alive," he said, adding that the search operations will push through for a second night. Some farm animals, like cows and goats, were found alive.
So far, 47 people have been injured, while officials believe that about 80 people could still be missing. Myanmar is battered annually by a monsoon season, which strikes countries across Southeast Asia, leaving tens of thousands displaced from flooded homes and setting off deadly landslides.
Aerial pictures of Ye Pyar Kone village showed shattered remnants of rooftops and other debris from the houses strewn next to trucks knocked over by the force of the onslaught. Its hillside temple was left inundated, leaving the pagoda's golden spire peeking out from beneath the mud.
Rescue workers on Saturday continued to carry out excavated bodies wrapped in plastic to waiting ambulances, wading through pools of water and ankle-deep sludge. Crying relatives of the missing watched on helpless under a steady torrent of rain, as nearby floodwaters edged closer to the village.
