Bangkok:  The death toll in the recent massive earthquake in Myanmar has crossed 2,000, state media said on Monday, as accounts of some people’s last moments emerged in public domain. Among them were 200 Buddhist monks crushed by a collapsing monastery, followed by 50 children in a preschool classroom and 700 people struck while praying at mosques for Ramadan.

The quake could exacerbate hunger and disease outbreaks in a country, that was already identified as one of the world’s most challenging places for humanitarian organisations to operate due to civil war, aid groups and the United Nations (UN) warned.

The 7.7 magnitude quake hit on Friday (Mar. 28), with the epicentre identified near Myanmar’s second-largest city of Mandalay. It damaged the city’s airport, roads and brought down hundreds of buildings along a wide swath down the country’s centre.

Relief efforts are further hampered by power outages, fuel shortages and spotty communications. A lack of heavy machinery has hit the rescue operations, forcing many to search for survivors on their own, amid daily temperatures hovering above 40 degrees Celsius.

Rescue workers at Mandalay’s collapsed U Hla Thein monastery said, they were still searching for about 150 of the dead monks.

Some 700 worshippers attending Friday prayers were killed when the mosques collapsed, said a member of the steering committee of the Spring Revolution Myanmar Muslim Network. He said some 60 mosques were damaged or destroyed.

It was not clear whether those numbers were already included in the official toll. The leader of the military government, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, told Pakistan’s Prime Minister during a call that 2,065 people were killed, with more than 3,900 injured and about 270 missing.

Relief agencies expect those numbers to rise sharply, since access is slow to remote areas where communications are down.

The United Nations’ Myanmar country team called for unimpeded access for aid teams.

“Even before this earthquake, nearly 20 million people in Myanmar were in need of humanitarian assistance,” said Marcoluigi Corsi, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator.

Myanmar declares national mourning

Myanmar’s State Administration Council Chairman Senior General Min Aung Hlaing on Monday announced a week-long mourning period following a 7.9-magnitude earthquake that struck Myanmar on Mar. 28.

In recognition of and sympathy for the damage and loss of lives caused by the earthquake, the period from Mar. 31 to Apr. 6 has been declared as national mourning days. During this time, the national flag will be flown at half-mast, he said.