Myanmar quake: Woman rescued after being trapped for 30 hours

Ye Aung (top) accompanies his wife Phyu Lay Khaing on their way to the hospital after she was rescued from the rubble of the collapsed Sky Villa Condominium apartment building in Mandalay on March 29, 2025, a day after an earthquake struck central Myanmar. Agence France-Presse

MANDALAY, Myanmar — Rescuers pulled a woman alive from the wreckage of a collapsed apartment building in Mandalay on Saturday, AFP journalists saw, 30 hours after a devastating quake hit Myanmar.

Applause rang out as Phyu Lay Khaing, 30, was brought out of the Sky Villa Condominium by rescuers and carefully removed from the rubble by stretcher.

Her husband Ye Aung, who had been waiting anxiously for news, embraced her as the stretcher was lifted down.

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“In the beginning, I didn’t think she would be alive,” Ye Aung told AFP as he waited for his wife to emerge from the debris.

“I am very happy that I heard good news,” said the trader, who has two sons with his wife — eight-year-old William, and Ethan, five.

As the ambulance drove away to hospital, Ye Aung was seen through the window clutching his wife’s hand.

A Red Cross official told AFP earlier that more than 90 people could be trapped under the remains of the apartment block.

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The shallow 7.7-magnitude quake struck northwest of Mandalay early Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a 6.7-magnitude aftershock.

The tremors destroyed buildings, downed bridges and buckled roads across swathes of Myanmar, with massive destruction seen in Mandalay, the country’s second-biggest city and home to more than 1.7 million people.