South African teacher working in Myanmar, Sibonelo Myeni said despite losing his girlfriend and some critical documents during the deadly earthquake, he will remain in the Southeast Asian nation.
International news reports pegged the death toll from the March 28 quake above 3,300, with more than 4,500 people injured when the 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck.
reported on Sunday that at least 12 South Africans are accounted for, safe and unharmed in Myanmar, in the aftermath of the deadly earthquake. Head of public diplomacy at the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco), Clayson Manyela, also clarified that the total of 12 was a moving target and the number could go up at any time, as and when they discover more South Africans in Myanmar.
Myeni told broadcaster Newzroom Afrika that he intends to stay and continue working, adding that tragedy would still strike even if he was back home in South Africa.
“I am going to stay and continue doing what I came here to do. These things can happen anywhere in the world and you can never predict. You could be in South Africa and lighting strikes, or you get robbed.
“So, I think for me it is one and the same thing,” Myeni spoke to the television news channel from Yangon, Myanmar.
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Myeni, a music and art teacher said the disaster struck when he was in class, but there were no learners at the time.
“There were no kids inside my classroom, it was just me. The building started shaking violently as if it is made out of rubber band. I couldn’t make sense of it for the first 10 seconds, and then after that I thought about hiding under the table. It was impossible because there was very little space under my desk … I could only hide my head and shoulders,” said Myeni.
He said his employer, in conjunction with the United States embassy, made arrangements for the officials to be moved to the city of Yangon, from the second-largest city in Myanmar, Mandalay.
“Right now I am in another city, because our school made arrangements for us to be transported in connection with the US embassy. But being in Mandalay was a nightmare right now because I could smell dead bodies when I left,” he said.
Myeni said the South African embassy in Thailand had also made the same arrangement for the South Africans to be moved.
In Pretoria, reported earlier that one South African had reportedly died.
“We have a list of South Africans who are accounted for. The last time I checked they were about 12. They are safe and are not harmed. In the case of two that were missing, we have reported in the last 72 hours that one South African has reportedly passed in Myanmar. The family concerned has been informed and we are in contact with them,” Monyela said.
In the last week of March, a 7.7 magnitude earthquake hit Myanmar, followed by an aftershock measuring a 6.4 magnitude. On Sunday, it was reported in the media that the death toll has risen to 3,471, with 4,671 people injured and 214 missing.
also reported that the earthquake reportedly damaged 5,223 buildings. Amongst these are schools, pagodas and temples, hospitals and clinics, bridges, dams and sections of the country’s main highway.
