A week after catastrophic earthquake, focus turns to a growing humanitarian crisis in Myanmar

BANGKOK (AP) — Search teams in Myanmar recovered more bodies from the ruins of buildings on Friday, a week after a massive earthquake killed more than 3,300 people, as the focus turns toward the urgent humanitarian needs in a country already devastated by a continuing civil war.

United Nations humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher, who is also the emergency relief coordinator, arrived Friday in Myanmar in an effort to spur action following the March 28 quake.

Ahead of the visit, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed to the international community to immediately step up funding for quake victims “to match the scale of this crisis,” and he urged unimpeded access to reach those in need.

“The earthquake has supercharged the suffering with the monsoon season just around the corner,” he said.

Myanmar's military and several key armed resistance groups have all declared ceasefires in the wake of the earthquake to facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid.

But the U.N.'s Human Rights Office on Friday accused the military of continuing attacks, claiming there were more than 60 attacks after the earthquake, including 16 since the military announced a temporary ceasefire on Wednesday.

“I urge a halt to all military operations, and for the focus to be on assisting those impacted by the quake, as well as ensuring unhindered access to humanitarian organizations that are ready to support,” said U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said. “I hope this terrible tragedy can be a turning point for the country towards an inclusive political solution.”

Announcing its ceasefire, the military also said it would still take “necessary” measures against resistance groups, if they use the ceasefire to regroup, train or launch attacks, and the groups have said they reserved the right to defend themselves.

Myanmar’s military seized power in 2021 from the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, sparking what has turned into a civil war.

The quake worsened an already dire humanitarian crisis, with more than 3 million people displaced from their homes and nearly 20 million in need even before it hit, according to the United Nations.

Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, head of the military government, said the quake's death toll has reached 3,301, with 4,792 injured and about 221 missing, according to a report on state television MRTV. He is in Bangkok attending a summit meeting of leaders from the Bay of Bengal region.

It is a rare visit for the general, who usually restricts his few foreign trips to allies Russia and China. He and his government are shunned and sanctioned by Western nations for usurping power and their alleged human rights violations in repressing opposition and carrying out a brutal war.

Britain, which had already given $13 million to purchase emergency items like food, water and shelter, pledged an additional $6.5 million in funds to match an appeal from Myanmar's Disasters Emergency Committee, according to the U.K. Embassy in Yangon.

The World Food Program said so far it has reached 24,000 survivors, but was scaling up its efforts to assist 850,000 with food and cash assistance for one month.

Many international search and rescue teams are now on the scene, and eight medical crews from China, Thailand, Japan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Philippines, Indonesia and Russia were operating in Naypyitaw, according to Myanmar's military-run government. Another five teams from India, Russia, Laos and Nepal and Singapore were helping in the Mandalay region, while teams from Russia, Malaysia and the ASEAN bloc of nations were assisting in the Sagaing region.

The Trump administration has pledged $2 million in emergency aid and sent a three-person team to assess how best to respond given drastic cuts to U.S. foreign assistance.

On Friday, five bodies were recovered from the rubble in the capital Naypyitaw and the second-largest city of Mandalay, near the epicenter of the 7.7 magnitude earthquake March 28, authorities said. The last reported rescue came Wednesday, some 125 hours after the quake struck, when a man was saved from the wreckage of a hotel in Mandalay.

The quake also shook neighboring Thailand, bringing down a high-rise under construction in Bangkok, where recovery work continued Friday. Overall, 22 people have been found dead and 35 injured in Bangkok, primarily from the construction site.

Associated Press Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations and Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed to this report.

Bhutanese medical volunteers look at the chest scan of a patient at a make-shift tent after last week's earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo)

A Bhutan medical volunteer attends to a patient at their make-shift tent after last week's earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo)

Military medical volunteers give treatments to a patient at their make-shift tent after last week's earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo)

Temporary shelters for patient are seen after last week's earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo)

Visitors walk near entrance of Maha Aungmye Bonzan Monastery, commonly known as the Me Nu Brick Monastery, in the aftermath of Friday's earthquake in Innwa, Tada-U township, Mandalay, Myanmar, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo)

Damaged Maha Aungmye Bonzan Monastery, commonly known as the Me Nu Brick Monastery, is seen in the aftermath of Friday's earthquake in Innwa, Tada-U township, Mandalay, Myanmar, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo)

Visitors walk near damaged Maha Aungmye Bonzan Monastery, commonly known as the Me Nu Brick Monastery, in the aftermath of Friday's earthquake in Innwa, Tada-U township, Mandalay, Myanmar, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo)

Damaged buildings are seen in the aftermath of last week's earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo)

Medical volunteers attend to patients at a make-shift tent opened for medical care after last week's earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo)

A soldier works on temporary shelters opened for medical care after last week's earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo)

Patients are seen at a make-shift tent opened for medical care after last week's earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo)

Bhutan medical volunteers give treatments to a patient at their make-shift tent after last week's earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo)

A Bhutan medical volunteer attends to a patient at their make-shift tent after last week's earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo)

Patient are seen at a make-shift tent opened for medical care after last week's earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo)

People work at temporary shelters for people displaced due to the earthquake, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo)

Bhutanese medical volunteers attend to a patient at a make-shift tent after last week's earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo)

Russian medical volunteers give treatment to a patient in their make-shift tent opened as a medical center in the aftermath of Friday's earthquake in Mandalay, Myanmar, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo)

Thai army soldiers lined up for their duty at site of an under construction high-rise building that collapsed after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, April, 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Morning joggers look at the at site of an under construction high-rise building that collapsed after an earthquake, as Thai army soldiers lined up for their duty in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, April, 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

A rescue office Amman Sutthirat talks to media at site of an under construction high-rise building that collapsed after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, April, 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

A notice board in Thai language shows , center top, number of victims (103) Deceased (15), Injured (9) and Under Tracking (79) at site of an under construction high-rise building that collapsed after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, April, 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Russian medical volunteers gather near their make-shift tent opened as a medical center in the aftermath of Friday's earthquake in Mandalay, Myanmar, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo)

A person watches at site of an under construction high-rise building that collapsed after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, April, 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

RHO, Italy (AP) — No ice is colder and harder than speedskating ice. The precision it takes has meant that Olympic speedskaters have never competed for gold on a temporary indoor rink – until the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games.

In the pursuit of maximum glide and minimum friction, Olympic officials brought on ice master Mark Messer, a veteran of six previous Olympic speedskating tracks and the ice technician in charge of the Olympic Oval in Calgary, Canada — one of the fastest tracks in the world with over 300 records.

Messer has been putting that experience to work one thin layer of ice at a time since the end of October at the new Speed Skating Stadium, built inside adjacent trade fair halls in the city of Rho just north of Milan.

“It’s one of the biggest challenges I’ve had in icemaking,’’ Messer said during an interview less than two weeks into the process.

If Goldilocks were a speedskater, hockey ice would be medium hard, for fast puck movement and sharp turns. Figure skating ice would be softer, allowing push off for jumps and so the ice doesn’t shatter on landing. Curling ice is the softest and warmest of all, for controlled sliding.

For speedskating ice to be just right, it must be hard, cold and clean. And very, very smooth.

“The blades are so sharp, that if there is some dirt, the blade will lose the edge,’’ Messer said, and the skater will lose speed.

Speedskater Enrico Fabris, who won two Olympic golds in Turin in 2006, has traded in his skates to be deputy sports manager at the speedskating venue in Rho. For him, perfect ice means the conditions are the same for all skaters — and then if it's fast ice, so much the better.

"It's more of a pleasure to skate on this ice,'' he said.

Messer’s first Olympics were in Calgary in 1988 — the first time speedskating was held indoors. “That gave us some advantages because we didn’t have to worry about the weather, wind blowing or rain,’’ he said. Now he is upping the challenge by becoming the first ice master to build a temporary rink for the Olympics.

Before Messer arrived in Italy, workers spent weeks setting up insulation to level the floor and then a network of pipes and rubber tubes that carry glycol — an antifreeze — that is brought down to minus 7 or minus 8 degrees Celsius (17.6 to 19.4 degrees Fahrenheit) to make the ice.

Water is run through a purification system — but it can’t be too pure, or the ice that forms will be too brittle. Just the right amount of impurities “holds the ice together,’’ Messer said.

The first layers of water are applied slowly, with a spray nozzle; after the ice reaches a few centimeters it is painted white — a full day’s work — and the stripes are added to make lanes.

“The first one takes about 45 minutes. And then as soon as it freezes, we go back and do it again, and again and again. So we do it hundreds of times,’’ Messer said.

As the ice gets thicker, and is more stable, workers apply subsequent layers of water with hoses. Messer attaches his hose to hockey sticks for easier spreading.

What must absolutely be avoided is dirt, dust or frost — all of which can cause friction for the skaters, slowing them down. The goal is that when the skaters push “they can go as far as possible with the least amount of effort,’’ Messer said.

The Zamboni ice resurfacing machine plays a key role in keeping the track clean, cutting off a layer and spraying water to make a new surface.

One challenge is gauging how quickly the water from the resurfacing machine freezes in the temporary rink.

Another is getting the ice to the right thickness so that the Zamboni, weighing in at six tons, doesn’t shift the insulation, rubber tubing or ice itself.

“When you drive that out, if there’s anything moving it will move. We don’t want that,’’ Messer said.

The rink got its first big test on Nov. 29-30 during a Junior World Cup event. In a permanent rink, test events are usually held a year before the Olympics, leaving more time for adjustments. “We have a very small window to learn,’’ Messer acknowledged.

Dutch speedskater Kayo Vos, who won the men’s neo-senior 1,000 meters, said the ice was a little soft — but Messer didn’t seem too concerned.

“We went very modest to start, now we can start to change the temperatures and try to make it faster and still maintain it as a safe ice,’’ he said.

Fine-tuning the air temperature and humidity and ice temperature must be done methodically — taking into account that there will be 6,000 spectators in the venue for each event. The next real test will be on Jan. 31, when the Olympians take to the ice for their first training session.

“Eighty percent of the work is done but the hardest part is the last 20 percent, where we have to try to find the values and the way of running the equipment so all the skaters get the same conditions and all the skaters get the best conditions,’’ Messer said.

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Serpentines are set on the ice of the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Workers clean the ice surface during a peed skating Junior World Cup and Olympic test event, in Rho, near Milan, Italy, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)