Featured Image Credit: X/Thai Enquirer
Topics: Travel, World News, News
Anish Vij
CCTV footage taken from a building in Bangkok during Friday's devastating earthquake has shown the reality of being in an infinity pool when disaster strikes.
More than 1,600 people have so far died in Myanmar after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake hit Thailand's neighbouring country midday.
In Mandalay, the country's second-largest city with a population of 1.5 million people, many were left without a home and were forced to sleep in the street, with a 5.1 magnitude aftershock hitting the city on Sunday (30 March).
At the time of writing, 1,644 people have been killed in Myanmar and 3,408 are injured, as volunteers are looking to rescue who they can.
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“The death toll and injuries are expected to rise,” the head of Myanmar’s military government, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing said on national television.
Tremors from the quake reached as far as Bangkok, as CCTV footage from an unidentified building has gone viral on social media.
The clip shows a man sitting near a swimming pool on the rooftop terrace, while a couple are in the water.
All of a sudden, water inside the pool sloshes around, as the man and woman in the water escape fairly quickly.
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The duo then follow the other man to take refuge at a safer place, with the whole building appearing to shake.
Seventeen people have died in Thailand at the time of writing, with a further 83 unaccounted for.
A video on social media showed a skyscraper, which was being constructed at one of the sites in Bangkok, came crashing down, collapsing in a matter of seconds.
People fled the site as the remaining building was reduced to rubble very quickly.
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Fraser Morton, a tourist from Scotland, was in one of Bangkok’s many malls when the quake struck.
“All of a sudden, the whole building began to move. Immediately, there was screaming and a lot of panic,” he said.
Morton said customers were forced to escape via upward-moving escalators.
The UK Government said it would provide up to £10 million in 'life-saving aid' following the tragic events.
"The UK is sending immediate and life-saving support to the people of Myanmar following the devastating earthquake," Baroness Jennifer Chapman, minister of state for development, said.
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“We fear it may be weeks before we understand the full extent of destruction caused by this earthquake,” added Mohammed Riyas, the International Rescue Committee’s Myanmar director.
Julie Mehigan, who oversees Christian Aid’s work in Asia, said: “Even before this heartbreaking earthquake, we know conflict and displacement has left countless people in real need.”