Zeyar Htun and Tessa Wong
BBC Burmese and BBC News
BBC / Neha Sharma
Soe Nay Oo was an imam from Myanmar but worked for a Thai human rights group after fleeing the 2021 coup
A call to prayer rang last Friday, with hundreds of Muslims rushing to five mosques in central Myanmar.
They wanted to celebrate their final Friday prayers for Ramadan. It was a few days away from the Eid celebration era, marking the end of the Holy Month.
A fatal earthquake occurred at 12:51 local time (06:21 GMT). Three mosques, including the largest, collapsed, killing almost everyone inside.
Soe Nay Oo, a former Myoma Mosque imam, located hundreds of kilometers away, felt a tremble in the Thai border town of Maysotto.
The next day he learned that around 170 of his relatives, friends and members of his former congregation had mostly died in the mosque. Some were key figures in the city’s close Muslim community.
“I think about all the people who lost their lives and the children of the victims – some of them are young children,” he told the BBC. “When I talk about this, I can’t hold back my tears.”
More than 2,700 people have been killed in trembling that occurred near Myanmar’s second largest city, Sagar and Mandalay. The death toll is expected to rise as rescuers continue to pull bodies out of the tile rub.
The area was known for its ancient Buddhist temples, but the city also had a considerable Muslim population.
An estimated 500 Muslims died while praying at the mosque, according to figures given by the country’s leader Min Aung Freen on Monday.
Sagan’s witness told the BBC that Miomas Street, the road on which the mosque is located, was the worst hit in the city. Many other houses on the street have also collapsed.
Hundreds of people are seeking shelter on the side of the road. Because they are either homeless now or are too afraid to return to their home in case there is an aftershock. Food supply has been reported to be rare.
It was said that fibroids alone would crush more than 60 people in the collapse, but scores died more in Myodaw and Moekya Mosques. More bodies were still being withdrawn on Tuesday.
According to Soe Nay Oo, who received multiple reports from surviving members of his community, there are indications that the worshippers were trying to escape.
He currently lives with his wife and daughter in the Thai city of Maysotto after fleeing Myanmar shortly after the 2021 coup.
He said there were bodies found outside the main prayer hall in the area where worshippers washed themselves. Others were clutching the hands of others in what appeared to be an attempt to pull them away from the collapsed building.
Supplied to soe nay oo
Photos sent to soe nay oo show fibroid mosque in total abandoned
Among many of his loved ones was Soe Nay Oo Lost, one of his wife’s cousins. Her death, he said, was “the most painful thing I have endured” in his 13 years as an imam.
“She was the one who showed us the most love,” Sue Neio said. “Everyone in our family loved her. The losses were unbearable for us.”
Another cousin of his wife, also a respected businessman who made an Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, has passed away.
“He always called me Nee Ray [‘little brother’ in Burmese]…When I married my wife, he said we were family now and he always treated me like his younger brother,” Sue Neio said.
“Every time we needed him, he was always there for us. I lost someone I loved like a brother like him.”
Some of his deceased close friends include Sue Neio’s former assistant imam.
The principal of a local public school, who was also Myoma Mosque’s only female councillor, also passed away. She was remembered by Soe Nay Oo as a generous soul who often paid for mosque programs from her pocket.
He said that every time he hears about yet another person from the community he has passed away, he experiences a new wave of grief. “I feel devastated…it always comes to my heart, memories of me cherishing them.
“They were not close relatives, but they were always those who welcomed me and followed my prayers and prayed with me.”
The fact that they died during Ramadan will not be lost to him. “Everyone who left has returned to Allah’s house. I will say, they will be remembered as martyrs accordingly,” he said.
Reuters
Other buildings in the story, including this fire station, have also collapsed.
Like other parts of Myanmar that have been affected by Quake, the community is struggling to deal with the vast numbers of bodies.
It is complicated by the ongoing fighting between the junta and resistance groups. Sagan’s Muslim Cemetery is close to an area managed by the Rebel Defence Forces (PDF) and has been closed to the public for several years. The military continues to bomb parts of the wider Sagar area following the earthquake.
The Muslim community in Sagaing City had to use the only bridge connecting the two cities to move the bodies of their dead to Mandalay, according to Soe Nay Oo.
Their bodies are left at Mandalay’s largest mosque for burial. Some people have not been buried within 24 hours of death in Islamic tradition.
“For Muslims, that’s the saddest thing, and we can’t fill our family with ourselves at the end of their journey,” he said.
Survivors are trying to help rescue them, even if they deal with the trauma. “Some of my community told me to pray for them. To be honest, they couldn’t even explain their loss in their words when I told them.”
It’s difficult for Soe Nay Oo to leave his previous congregations far away. Like many other people in Myanmar who have moved abroad, he feels survivor’s guilt.
“If I was still an imam, at the time of trembling, I would have gone with them – peacefully accepted.
“I can’t go back now, and it’s painful to think about it.
soe nay oo began to sob. “This sad and irritating feeling I have right now, I have never felt this way in my life. I am the kind of person who barely crys.
He added that he couldn’t sleep for days. His concerns have been magnified by the fact that he has not yet heard from some families, including his own brother in Mandalay.
Soe Nay Oo has suspended work for Thai human rights groups and is currently helping to coordinate rescue efforts by sharing information obtained from city contacts.
He estimates that at least 1,000 Muslims in the area are affected and still need assistance.
“Every time someone on the ground asks for help, I feel relieved and I can help them.”
