The death toll from a major earthquake in Myanmar has risen above 3,300, state media said Saturday.
Meanwhile, the United States said Friday it was raising its assistance to earthquake-hit Myanmar but added it was unfair to expect the nation to keep leading humanitarian relief around the world.
The United Nations aid chief made a renewed call for the world to help the disaster-struck nation.
The March 28 quake flattened buildings and destroyed infrastructure across the country, resulting in 3,354 deaths and 4,508 people injured, with 220 others missing, according to new figures published by state media.
More than one week after the disaster, many people in the country are still without shelter, either forced to sleep outdoors because their homes were destroyed or wary of further collapses.
A United Nations estimate suggests that more than three million people may have been affected by the 7.7-magnitude quake, compounding previous challenges caused by four years of civil war.
The UN’s top aid official on Saturday met with victims in the central Myanmar city of Mandalay -- situated close to the epicentre and now grappling with severe damage across the city.
The new toll was announced after the country’s military junta chief Min Aung Hlaing returned from a rare foreign trip to a regional summit in Bangkok on Friday, where he met with leaders including the prime ministers of Thailand and India.
The general’s attendance at the summit courted controversy, with protesters at the venue displaying a banner calling him a “murderer” and anti-junta groups condemning his inclusion.
The junta has reportedly conducted dozens of attacks since the earthquake, including at least 16 since a temporary truce was announced on Wednesday, the UN said Friday.
US ups Myanmar quake aid
The US State Department said it was adding $7 million on top of an earlier $2 million, channeled through groups already on the ground in the military-run country where more than 3,000 people are confirmed dead.
The assistance will help provide emergency shelter, food, medical care and water, State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce wrote on X.
The United States has traditionally been at the forefront of disaster relief, but President Donald Trump has dismantled the US humanitarian aid agency, with workers receiving dismissal notices just as the 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck last week.
China -- which has jostled the United States for influence in Asia -- as well as Russia and neighboring India promptly sent rescue teams to Myanmar before the United States even announced its support.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that humanitarian aid needs to be “properly balanced” against other priorities for the United States.
“China is a very rich country; India is a rich country,” Rubio told reporters earlier Friday in Brussels.
“There are a lot of other countries in the world, and everyone should pitch in,” he said.
“I don’t think it’s fair to assume that the United States needs to continue to share the burden -- 60, 70%-- of humanitarian aid around the world,” he said.
He took issue with critics who said that the US response could have been faster, saying: “These are people that are part of that NGO industrial complex.”
