YANGON: Rain is compounding misery and presenting new hurdles for relief efforts on Sunday in Myanmar, where state media reported the death toll from a devastating earthquake has risen to nearly 3,500 people.
The 7.7-magnitude quake struck on March 28, razing buildings, cutting off power and destroying bridges and roads across the country.
Damage has been particularly severe in the city of Sagaing near the epicenter, as well as in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second city with more than 1.7 million residents.
State media in the military junta-led country now say that the earthquake has caused 3,471 confirmed deaths and injured 4,671 people, while 214 remain missing.
With people either having lost their homes entirely or reluctant to spend time in cracked and unstable structures, many residents have been sleeping outside in tents.
Around 45 minutes of heavy rain and winds lashed tent cities Saturday evening in Mandalay, according to the UN Development Programme.
People and their belongings were soaked because of a shortage of tarpaulins, Tun Tun, a program specialist at the UN agency, told AFP.
There are also fears destroyed buildings will subside and complicate body recovery efforts.
Following less intense showers Sunday morning, the temperature is due to climb to 37 degrees Celsius (98 degrees Farenheit).
“The weather is very extreme,” Tun Tun told AFP, with further rain forecast.
Aid experts warn that rainy conditions and scorching heat increase the risk of disease outbreaks at outdoor camps where victims were in temporary shelter.
United Nations aid chief Tom Fletcher said that food, water, and power repairs were needed urgently, in a video filmed in Mandalay and posted to X on Sunday.
Many people in the area are still without shelter, he said, describing the scale of damage in the area as “epic.”
“We need to get tents and hope to survivors as they rebuild their shattered lives,” Fletcher wrote in another post.
Myanmar has been ruled by junta leader Min Aung Hlaing since 2021, when his military seized power in a coup that overthrew the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
International efforts to provide quake relief in the Southeast Asian country of more than 50 million people have been complicated by unreliable communication networks and infrastructure heavily damaged by four years of civil war.
Even before the recent quake, the humanitarian crisis in the country was severe, with the persistent, multi-sided conflict displacing 3.5 million people, according to the UN.
The UN said Friday that since the earthquake, the junta continued to conduct dozens of attacks against rebel groups, including at least 16 since Wednesday when the military government announced a temporary ceasefire.
Fletcher held discussions with the foreign ministers of Thailand and Malaysia on Saturday for what he called a “practical meeting” centered on “strong, coordinated, collective action” to save lives in Myanmar.
Aftershocks have also continued as long as a week after the initial tremors, with a 4.7-magnitude quake striking just south of Mandalay late Friday, according to the United States Geological Survey.
Min Aung Hlaing was in Bangkok on Thursday and Friday, on a rare foreign trip to attend a regional summit that saw him meet with leaders including the prime ministers of Thailand and India.
The general’s attendance at the summit prompted protest, with demonstrators at the venue displaying a banner calling him a “murderer” and anti-junta groups condemning his inclusion.
Rain complicates recovery in quake-hit Myanmar as death toll rises
https://arab.news/4pcqw
Rain complicates recovery in quake-hit Myanmar as death toll rises
- Rain is compounding misery and presenting new hurdles for relief efforts on Sunday in Myanmar, where state media reported the death toll from a devastating earthquake has risen to nearly 3,500 people
In Lahore’s historic Walled City, Ramadan fills the rows at Mughal-era Sunehri Mosque
- Experts call for restoration of the 18th-century mosque amid encroachments and structural strain
- Generations of traders shift their work schedules in Ramadan to gather for iftar and nightly prayers
LAHORE, Pakistan: In Old Lahore’s Kashmiri Bazaar, Ramadan changes the rhythm of trade.
By late afternoon, shop shutters begin to drop halfway and traders step away from their counters. Within minutes, the courtyard of Sunehri Mosque begins to fill.
On most days, the 18th-century mosque holds just a few rows of worshippers. In Ramadan, that number more than doubles.
“It has been 27 years since I have been leading the prayers here,” Qari Mohammed Hanif, the 47-year-old imam at the mosque, told Arab News. “On normal days, there are four to five rows. But in Ramadan, the mosque fills completely. People stand till the lower end.”
The congregation is largely drawn from the surrounding market — shopkeepers, traders and workers who close their businesses and walk directly into prayer.
For many, the mosque is inseparable from livelihood.
“I have a shop at Sunehri Masjid,” said Nasir Mehmood, 46, who runs a yarn business steps away. “This is our third generation running the shop. First it was my grandfather, then my father and now us. The shop is 50 years old.”
He said that at the beginning of Ramadan, he breaks his fast at home with his family. As the month progresses, the routine shifts.
“We start breaking our fast here at the shop, together with our friends and fellow shopkeepers. We also offer Taraweeh prayers here,” he continued, referring to the special Ramadan prayer performed after the obligatory Isha prayer at night.
Working hours extend as well.
“For the first three to four fasts, we come at 12 p.m. and leave after Asar prayers,” said Sheikh Mohammed Saleem, 50, who runs a clothing shop nearby. “After that, our routine changes. We open at 11 a.m. and stay until 12 a.m. at night, continuing this schedule until the last fast of Ramadan.
“Some food is brought from home, and some we buy from the market,” he added. “All of us gather together to break our fast.”
Others return year after year for spiritual reasons.
“I have been coming here for 11 years,” said Mohammed Rafique, 45. “Whenever I am in this area, I always come to this mosque. I find peace here, peace in my heart. There is something from Allah. I cannot explain it. Whenever I come here, I try to break my fast here.”
Even younger traders feel a strong attachment to the space. Abdullah, 25, who gave only one name, said the mosque has become part of his working life.
“I have a shop in Lahore’s Rang Mehal, in Kasera Bazaar, under Sunehri Masjid,” he said. “I have been here for three years. The environment here is very good, the people are good.”
GILDED DOMES
The building that fills so quickly during Ramadan was constructed in 1753 during the later Mughal period by Nawab Bhikari Khan, a deputy governor of Lahore. Its three gilded domes gave it the name “Sunehri,” meaning golden.
Unlike imperial Mughal mosques built in expansive courtyards, Sunehri Mosque was embedded within a functioning marketplace. It rose not in isolation but among shops, a structure woven into commercial life rather than set apart from it.
“The Sunehri Mosque is small in scale because it was built during the decline of the Mughal Empire, a time when political power had weakened and resources were limited,” cultural heritage expert Saad Zahid told Arab News. “Its modest size and comparatively simple detailing reflect this period of reduced imperial strength.
“Unlike earlier Mughal monuments, it does not display the same richness or refinement, making it an important example of late Mughal architecture in Lahore,” he added.
Lahore, once a major administrative and cultural center of the Mughal Empire, saw numerous mosques constructed at the height of imperial power. Like most of them, Sunehri Mosque’s courtyard also featured a central pond, a hallmark of Mughal mosque design, though visitors usually find it dry these days.
Sunehri Masjid
While the mosque remains active and crowded during Ramadan, aspects of its physical condition raise concern.
The historic shops built beneath the mosque are now heavily encroached upon, obscuring parts of the mosque’s facade. Piles of wooden ladders and used boxes are stacked along sections of the structure. Tangled electricity wires hang across and above the building, cutting through the visual line of its domes. In some areas, residents hang washed clothes along its outer walls to dry.
B
Behind the mosque lies Baoli Bagh, once associated with an important Sikh-era gurdwara site, which Zahid said also deserves conservation.
He also argued that, like the Badshahi and Wazir Khan mosques, Sunehri Mosque should remain open to visitors beyond prayer times and be more actively promoted as part of Lahore’s historic landscape.
“The frescoes inside the mosque today appear overly bright and artificial. The original Mughal paintings were likely more subtle in tone, suggesting that later interventions have altered its authentic appearance,” he said, emphasizing the urgency of the building’s careful restoration to protect original design, materials and architectural identity rather than replace them with new construction.
