Caught in quake terror

THAILAND'S defence minister said yesterday that three people were confirmed dead and 90 are missing at the site where a high rise building under construction collapsed in a powerful earthquake.

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Phumtham Wechayachai offered no more details about the ongoing rescue efforts but emergency services said seven people had been rescued so far from outside the collapsed building near Bangkok's popular Chatuchak Market.

The epicentre of the earthquake was in neighbouring Myanmar which is embroiled in a brutal civil war that has already caused a widespread humanitarian crisis.

The extent of the death, injury and destruction in Myanmar was not yet clear. Myanmar's government said blood was in high demand in the hardest-hit areas, and videos from the country showed multiple collapsed houses and buckled and cracked roads.