BANGKOK, THAILAND (WKBW) — A Western New Yorker visiting Thailand experienced firsthand the devastating 7.7-magnitude earthquake that struck Southeast Asia on Friday.
Officials in Myanmar report that the powerful quake has claimed the lives of more than 2,000 people and left nearly 4,000 injured. Rescue workers continue to search for nearly 300 missing individuals amid ongoing aftershocks.
Catherine Miller, acting CEO of WBBZ-TV in Buffalo, was in Thailand visiting her son when the earthquake struck. Speaking about the immediate aftermath, Miller described how thousands of people were calmly guided into a large park for safety.
“They were guiding everybody into a large park—thousands and thousands of people," Miller said. "Everybody was very calm, walking in an orderly fashion.”
In one remarkable moment, she learned that a hospital had relocated a patient undergoing abdominal surgery to the park, fearing aftershocks could compromise the hospital’s safety.
“I found out later that the hospital was right there," Miller said. "They had taken a patient down into the park to finish an abdominal surgery because they were afraid to keep them in the hospital. They didn’t know how the aftershocks were going to affect everything.”
Rescue operations are ongoing as workers race against time to locate survivors. Some U.S. aid teams have arrived in Thailand, but there is no word yet on what assistance might be provided in the coming days.
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