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A man rides on a motorbike past a collapsed building as heavy construction equipment is used to clear the rubble in Kyaukse Township on April 4, 2025, one week after the March 28 earthquake.
AFP / Aung Main
MANILA, Philippines — A team from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is heading to Myanmar to assist in identifying victims of the devastating 7.7 magnitude earthquake.
The officers from the NBI Disaster Victim Identification Division, set to arrive on Saturday, April 5 in Mandalay, will also try to locate four missing Filipino nationals feared trapped under the rubble of the Sky Villa Condominium.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) earlier reported that most bodies retrieved in Mandalay were already in advanced stages of decomposition and had been cremated due to a lack of cold storage facilities.
However, local rescuers were requested to extract tissue samples from deceased individuals before cremation and notify authorities if any were identified as Filipinos.
Urban search and rescue teams from Myanmar, Vietnam, Russia, and China have been assigned to the Sky Villa site.
While the Philippine humanitarian contingent hopes to locate the missing Filipinos, Office of Civil Defense administrator Undersecretary Ariel Nepomuceno said deployment depends on Myanmar authorities’ directives.
The NBI agents are tasked to secure tissue samples collected from unidentified remains recovered at the Sky Villa site. Samples would also be collected from family members of the missing Filipinos in Manila “to ascertain indubitable identity.”
“We continue to exert all possible efforts to account for the four missing Filipinos and to provide support and necessary assistance to all affected members of the Filipino community during this challenging time,” the embassy said.
Humanitarian efforts. The Philippine Inter-Agency Humanitarian Contingent has been involved in rescue and medical operations since arriving in Myanmar on April 1 and 2.
On April 3, members of the contingent recovered a deceased individual from the collapsed Jade City Hotel and Entertainment Complex in Nay Pyi Taw. The victim, identified as Jade City’s head waiter, was already in a state of decomposition and has been turned over to Myanmar authorities.
Nepomuceno from the Office of Civil Defense said the Philippines remains ready to deploy additional humanitarian teams if Myanmar requests further assistance. The first team is scheduled to return to the Philippines on April 12, with Filipinos who wish to return home able to join the same flight. — with reports from Philippine News Agency
