Hope fades to find survivors

MYANMAR: QUAKE TOLL CLIMBS AS NATION MOURNS

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Myanmar's ruling junta declared a week of national mourning yesterday for the country's devastating earthquake, which has killed more than 1,700 people, as hopes faded of finding more survivors in the rubble of ruined buildings.

National flags will fly at half-mast until Sunday "in sympathy for the loss of life and damages" from Friday's massive 7.7-magnitude quake, the junta said.

The announcement came as the urgency of rescue efforts wound down in Mandalay, one of the worst-affected cities and the country's second-largest, with more than 1.7 million inhabitants.