Efforts to find survivors from last month's devastating earthquake in Myanmar are winding down.
The rescue operation is being replaced by increasing relief and recovery activity, with the death toll from the disaster surpassing 3,500 and continuing to rise.
In the capital, Naypyitaw, people cleared debris and collected wood from their damaged houses and soldiers removed wreckage at some Buddhist monasteries.
Myanmar Fire Services Department said that teams had recovered 10 bodies from the rubble of a collapsed building in Mandalay, the country’s second-biggest city.
The department added that international rescuers from Singapore, Malaysia and India had returned home after their work to find survivors was considered to be at an end.
The number of rescue teams operating in residential areas of Naypyitaw has been steadily decreasing.
The 7.7-magnitude quake hit a wide swathe of Myanmar, causing significant damage to six regions and states.
The 28 March tremor left many areas without power, telephone or mobile connections and damaged roads and bridges, making the full extent of the devastation hard to assess.
Heavy rain and wind disrupted rescue and relief operations at the weekend and added to the misery of the homeless forced to sleep in the open.
Scattered showers and thunderstorms are forecast across the country this week.
Meanwhile, Myanmar’s military government and its armed opponents have been trading accusations over alleged violations of ceasefire declarations made in a bid to ease earthquake relief efforts.
The country has been in turmoil since the army’s 2021 takeover ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, which led to nationwide peaceful protests that escalated into armed resistance and what now amounts to civil war.
Although the military and its opponents declared unilateral truces for a temporary period, reports of continued fighting are widespread, with the army coming in for special attention for continuing aerial bombing, according to independent Myanmar media and eyewitnesses.
Independent confirmation of fighting is difficult because of the remoteness of the areas in which much of it takes place and restrictions on journalists.
