5 months after Myanmar's deadly earthquake, photos show widespread damage and ongoing reconstruction

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MANDALAY, Myanmar (AP) — Five months after a massive earthquake hit the Southeast Asian nation of Myanmar, the country is still finding bodies in the rubble. The 7.7 magnitude quake that hit March 28 killed more than 3,800 people and caused widespread destruction.

When the earthquake hit, Myanmar was already mired in a civil war, in which armed militias and pro-democracy forces are fighting the military-led government that seized power from the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021.

During a rare trip into the disaster zone, The Associated Press recently witnessed a country laboring to rebuild the roads, temples, hospitals, schools and government buildings needed for a society to function, while still grappling with the deadly divisions that have torn the nation apart.

The military allowed AP to report on the quake damage in the capital, Naypyitaw, and in the country’s second-largest city, Mandalay, which was the earthquake's epicenter. Both areas are firmly under military control. Official representatives accompanied the team to all sites.

Sites visited included Mandalay's university and a condo complex that collapsed and nearly 200 bodies have been found, including seven last week.

At the parliament complex in Naypyitaw, up to 500 people are working day and night, seven days a week, on the five most important buildings that were damaged so that they're usable in time for elections scheduled for the end of December. Critics say the elections are a sham to normalize the military takeover.