Powerful earthquake devastates critical infrastructure in Sagaing

The powerful earthquake that struck Myanmar on Friday severely damaged buildings and critical public infrastructure in the Sagaing region and surrounding areas.

The 7.7-magnitude earthquake hit Myanmar at around 12:50 local time (06:20 GMT) on Friday, with Mandalay, Bago, Magway, the northeastern Shan state, Sagaing, and Nay Pyi Taw among the hardest-hit regions.

As of Sunday noon local time, the earthquake had claimed 1,700 lives, injured 3,400 people, and left some 300 others unaccounted for, according to Myanmar's Information Team of the State Administration Council.

Video footage from China Central Television (CCTV) on Sunday afternoon showed severe damage to key roads linking Mandalay, Myanmar's second-largest city, and the Sagaing region, with visible cracks and large fractures making travel treacherous.

Additionally, century-old Ava Bridge, also called the Old Sagaing Bridge, which spanned the Irrawaddy River between Mandalay and Sagaing regions collapsed during the severe quake.

Reporting from Sagaing City, a CCTV journalist observed that the earthquake had destroyed the majority of buildings in the urban area.

A landmark passenger route linking China's southern island province of Hainan with Europe commenced operation on Sunday, marking the Hainan Free Trade Port's first operational air service under the "seventh-freedom traffic right."

Flight DV481, operated by Kazakhstan's SCAT Airlines, left Sanya Phoenix International Airport on Sunday morning for Prague, the Czech Republic. The inaugural return flight, DV482, arrived in Sanya on Monday, with 115 Czech passengers successfully entering China.

Seventh-freedom rights allow an airline to carry passengers or cargo solely between two foreign countries without any connection to the airline's home country.

The route is operated by SCAT Airlines using a Boeing 737 MAX 9, with one round-trip flight scheduled per week.