A ceremony to honour the search and rescue and emergency medical team of Bangladesh which completed their mission to conduct emergency search and rescue operations in the earthquake-affected areas in Myanmar took place at Tabaung Ground in Nay Pyi Taw yesterday morning, attended by National Disaster Management Committee Chairman Vice-Chairman of the State Administration Council Deputy Prime Minister Vice-Senior General Soe Win.
Also present at the ceremony were Union ministers, the Nay Pyi Taw Council Chairman, deputy ministers, Bangladeshi Ambassador to Myanmar Dr Md Monwar Hossain, the Defence Attaché and officials.
All attendees led by the Vice-Senior General observed a one-minute silence for sympathy over the loss of life and damage in the 28-March powerful earthquake.
In his honorary speech, the Vice-Senior General said that due to such earthquake activity, more than 60,000 houses, 3,514 monasteries and nunneries, 2,366 schools, and 3,678 departmental offices and buildings were destroyed across the country. In addition, 155 bridges and 5,620 pagodas were damaged. Till this morning, the number of confirmed deaths stood at 3,649, with 5,018 people injured and 145 people missing. From 28 March to 9 April, Myanmar search and rescue teams along with international emergency response teams were able to rescue 653 people alive and recover the bodies of 718 deceased individuals.
From Bangladesh, a total of 55 personnel led by Colonel Shamim Iftakhar and Colonel Nasir — comprising search and rescue teams, support and relief teams, medical teams, and structural engineering teams — arrived in Nay Pyi Taw at 2:00 pm on 1 April, along with 69 types of modern search and rescue equipment, and participated in rescue operations.
The medical team led by Colonel Nasir from Bangladesh also carried out operations at Nay Pyi Taw Children’s Hospital from 1 to 3 April. From 4 April onward, they were based at Zabuthiri Township Hospital, and also operated as a mobile clinic in Pyinmana Township. They collaborated with Myanmar’s emergency medical teams to provide surgical and medical treatments at people’s hospitals, including the Nay Pyi Taw General Hospital (1,000-bed) and the hospital in Lewe Township. They also gave healthcare services to 527 patients, including four major surgeries.
Led by Colonel Shamim Iftakhar, the Bangladesh search and rescue team, in collaboration with the Myanmar Fire Brigade’s search and rescue team, was able to locate a missing person trapped inside the building at No 1338, Danatheikdi Ward, Zabuthiri Township, which had collapsed due to the earthquake on 3 April 2025.
As a deceased person was found at the site, they had to break through the walls and concrete slabs with great effort to retrieve the lifeless body. On behalf of the families, heartfelt thanks and appreciation were expressed for their efforts.
On the morning of 4 April, the engineering team from Bangladesh also inspected the demolition and clearance of hazardous sections of the quake-affected Central Fire Station building in Zabuthiri Township (Nay Pyi Taw). They kindly provided necessary suggestions and advice, for which we are deeply grateful.
It is also known that the search and rescue team from Bangladesh is a highly experienced group, having previously assisted in earthquake response operations in Nepal and Türkiye. Thanks to their valuable experience, they were not only able to help locate and rescue trapped individuals —whether alive or deceased —from collapsed buildings, but also provided recommendations concerning buildings at risk of further collapse.
On behalf of the State Administration Council, the national government, the National Disaster Management Committee, and the earthquake-affected people and their families, the Vice-Senior General expressed his deep and heartfelt gratitude to the Government and responsible officials of Bangladesh for their timely and wholehearted support extended purely out of neighbourly goodwill and genuine humanitarian concern, without any conditions attached.
He also extended his sincere thanks to the rescue and medical teams led by Colonel Shamim Iftakhar and Colonel Nasir, as well as to Dr Md Monwar Hossain, Ambassador of Bangladesh to Myanmar, and all members of the Embassy for their assistance in search and rescue operations and in providing medical treatment through mobile clinics for the victims of the earthquake in our country.
The Vice-Senior General presented certificates of appreciation and gifts to individuals of the Bangladeshi team through an official.
After the ceremony, the Vice-Senior General hosted meals for the Bangladeshi rescue and emergency healthcare team.
The Bangladeshi team on 13 April will return home by a Bangladeshi vessel which will transport relief supplies for earthquake-affected people of Myanmar to Yangon on 11 April. — MNA/TTA
