Nepali Army team leaves for Myanmar with medical relief supplies

KATHMANDU: A Nepali Army team has departed for Myanmar with medical relief supplies following the devastating earthquake that recently struck the country.

A cabinet meeting held on Monday decided to send a medical team to Myanmar.

Led by Major Ram Chandra Shrestha, the 22-member team comprises 12 medical personnel, four logistics support staff and six crew members.  The team includes surgeons, orthopaedic specialists, general physicians, nurses and paramedics, according to the Nepal Army. The team left for Myanmar on a special aircraft of the Nepal Army. They will provide medical assistance to those injured in the earthquake for about a week.

According to AP news agency, Friday’s earthquake has claimed over 2,700 lives in Myanmar. Myanmar’s military leader, Min Aung Hlaing, confirmed that 2,719 people have died, 4,521 have been injured and 441 remain missing.

The earthquake was the second most powerful in Myanmar’s history, following an 8.0-magnitude quake in eastern Mandalay in May 1912.