ISTANBUL

The death toll from the Myanmar earthquakes neared 2,900, while 72 people remain missing in Thailand, Xinhua News reported on Wednesday.

According to Myanmar’s State Administration Council information team, the death toll in Myanmar has reached 2,886, with 4,639 people injured and 373 still missing.

In neighboring Thailand, 72 people are still missing in the capital Bangkok, as the search for bodies continues at the site of the collapsed State Audit Office tower block, Thai PBS reported on Wednesday.

Two devastating earthquakes, with magnitudes 7.7 and 6.4, rocked Myanmar and Thailand last Friday with the epicenter in the Sagaing region, which reportedly suffered the most damage.

Thai and international rescue teams took turns overnight, working with sniffer dogs and heavy equipment to lift large concrete blocks to reach the missing individuals.

A rescue official acknowledged that the teams are restricted in the number of heavy machines they can deploy simultaneously, as doing so could risk shifting large, buried debris.

Around 100 workers were inside the State Audit Office tower building in Bangkok when it collapsed on Friday, triggered by tremors from a powerful earthquake near the Mandalay region of neighboring Myanmar.

Several nations have extended aid to Myanmar to meet the challenges posed by earthquakes. Japan on Wednesday said it was ready to provide $6 million in emergency grant assistance to the victims of the earthquake.