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Indian tourists who form a large chink of tourists in Thailand, started to return to home as soon as the deadly effects of the quake were felt in the country.
Rescue ops continue after the Myanmar earthquake. (Reuters)
A powerful earthquake struck Myanmar and neighboring Thailand, causing widespread panic and destruction. Buildings shook and swayed, water fell out of rooftop infinity pools, and people ran around in panic. The destruction killed more than 1000 people, with operations on to rescue others.
Indian tourists who form a large chink of tourists in Thailand, started to return to home as soon as the deadly effects of the quake were felt in the country.
On Friday night, passengers started arriving back in India at the Kolkata airport from Bangkok. A passenger named Ranjan Banerjee opened up about his experience and explained the current situation in Bangkok. He said that the current situation was normal, but when the quake was felt, malls and offices were evacuated.
“The situation is normal right now, but when it happened, there was an emergency situation. Malls and offices were evacuated. The Metro rail system was shut…”, passenger Ranjan Banerjee said to ANI.
Safdar, another tourist, told ANI that he saw skyscrapers shaking and water falling out of an infinity pool. Sanjiv Dutta, who returned from Bangkok on Friday night, said that his bed was shaking when the earthquake took place. As he woke up, he said that the buildings were shaking and the people were running in panic.
Pranav recalled how everyone started running away when the hotel they were in started to shake violently. “We were in the Prince Pace hotel on the 24th floor when the building started shaking violently,” he told ANI.
The quake, which was also felt in China and Vietnam, caused widespread structural damage.
Meanwhile, India on Saturday launched ‘Operation Brahma’ to send nearly 15 tonnes of relief material to Myanmar, which was jolted by two devastating earthquakes on Friday. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that the Indian Air Force plane carrying the relief items landed in Yangon.
“#OperationBrahma gets underway. The first tranche of humanitarian aid from India has reached the Yangon Airport in Myanmar,” Jaishankar posted on X.
The Indian Embassy in Thailand is keeping a close eye on the situation following the recent earthquakes in Myanmar and Thailand, and fortunately, no incidents involving Indian citizens have been reported yet.
“In case of any emergency, Indian nationals in Thailand are advised to contact the emergency number +66 618819218. All members of the Indian Embassy in Bangkok and the Consulate in Chiang Mai are safe,” the Indian Embassy in Thailand said in a post on X.
(With inputs from ANI)