Myanmar held a minute's silence on Tuesday in tribute to victims of a catastrophic earthquake that has killed more than 2,000 people, buckling roads and flattening buildings as far away as Bangkok.
Four days after the shallow 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck, many people in Myanmar are still sleeping outdoors, either unable to return to ruined homes or afraid of further aftershocks.
Sirens rang out at 12:51:02 (0621 GMT) -- the precise time the quake struck on Friday -- bringing the country to a standstill to remember those lost.
Mandalay, the country's second-biggest city with 1.7 million inhabitants, suffered some of the worst destruction.
Outside the Sky Villa apartment complex, one of the city's worst-hit disaster sites, rescue workers stopped and lined up with hands clasped behind their backs to pay their respects.
Officials and attendants stood behind a cordon, watching relatives further back, as the sirens wailed and a Myanmar flag flew at half-mast from a bamboo pole tied to a rescue tent.
The moment of remembrance is part of a week of national mourning declared by authorities, with flags to fly at half-mast on official buildings until April 6 "in sympathy for the loss of life and damages".
The government said on Monday that 2,056 people have been confirmed dead, with more than 3,900 injured and 270 missing. At least 20 people died in neighbouring Thailand.
But the toll is expected to rise significantly as rescuers reach towns and villages where communications have been cut off by the quake.
More than 1,000 foreign rescuers have flown in to help, and Myanmar state media reported that nearly 650 people have been pulled alive from ruined buildings around the country.
Memories of the deadly earthquakes that struck parts of Türkiye on February 6, 2023, still bind African students in the country who experienced the disaster and teach them lessons in resoluteness and strength of purpose.
The dead include around 500 Muslims killed while offering Friday prayers in mosques when the quake struck, the state-run newspaper Global New Light of Myanmar reported.
- Sleeping in the open – Hundreds of Mandalay residents spent a fourth night sleeping in the open, with their homes destroyed or fearing aftershocks would cause more damage.
