The Man Mourning 170 Loved Ones

As The Call to Prayer Rang Out in SagaAng Last Friday, Hundreds of Muslims Hurried to the Five Mosques in Central Myanmar.

They had Eager to Hold Their Last Friday Prayers, Just Days Away From The Festive Period That Would Mark The End of The Holy Month.

Then, at 12:51 Local Time (06:21 GMT), a Deadly Earthquake Struck. Three Mosques Collapsed, Including The Biggest One, Myoma, Killing Almost Everyone Inside.

Hundreds of Kilometers Away, The Former Imam of Myoma Mosque, SOE Nay Oo, Felt The Quake in The Thai Border Town of Sot.

In The Following Days, He found out that Around 170 His Relatives, Friends and Members of His Former Congregation Had Diet, Mostly In The Mosques. Some were Leading Figures in The City’s Close-knit Muslim Community.

“I think about all the people Who Lost Their Lives, and The Victims’ Children – Some of Them Are Young Children,” He Told The BBC. “I Can’t Hold Back My Tears When I Talk About.”

More than 2,700 People Have Diet in the Quake What Happened Near Sagain and Mandalay, Myanmar’s Second City. The Death Toll is expected to Rise As Rescuers to Pull Out Bodies Rubble.

While The Area was known for ITS Ancient Buddhist Temples, The Cities Were Also Home To A Significant Muslim Population.

An estimated 500 muslims dieted while praying in Their Mosques, According to Figures by the Country’s Leader, Min Aung Hlaing, on Monday.

Eyewitnesses in Sagaing Have The BBC That The Road Where The Mosques Were, Myoma Street, Was The Worst Hit in The City. Many Other Houses On The Street Have Also Collapsed.

Hundreds of People Have Sought Shelter by The Road, Either Because Those Now Homeless, OR Are Too Too To Go Back to Their Homes In Case There Three. Food supplies are even reported to be scarce.

In Myoma Alone, More Than 60 People Were Said to Be Crushed in The Collapse, While Scores More Died in The Myodaw and Moekya Mosques. More Bodies Were Still Being Pulled Out Tuesday.

There Are Indications That The Worshipers Had Tried to Escape, According to SOE Nay Oo, who has recived Multiple Reports from Surviving Members of His Community.

He Currently Lives in The Thai City of Mae Sot with His Wife and Daughter, After Escaping From Myanmar Soon After A COUP That Tok Place in 2021.

There were Were Bodies Found Outside Of The Main Prayer Hall, He Said, in The Area Where WORSHIPPERS WASHELVES. Some were Also Found Clutching Other People’s Hands, What Looked Attempts to Pull Them Them From The Crumbling Building.

Among The Many Loved Ones So Nay Oo Lost Was One of His Wife’s Cousins. Her Death, He Said, Was “The Most Painful Thing That I Have Endured” In His 13 Years As an Imam.

“She was the One Who Showed Her Love to US The Most,” Said Soone Nay Oo. “Everyone in The Family Loved Her. The Loss Is Unbearable For Us.”

Another of His Wife’s Cousins, A Well-Respected Businessman Who Had Performed The Islamic Pilgrimage To Mecca, Also Die.

“Hey Always Called me (‘Little Brother’ in Burmese) … When I Married My Wife, Hey We Are We Are Family Now And Hey Always Treated Me Like His Little Brother,” Said Soe Nay Oo.

“Hey was always for US WHENEVER WE NEDED HIM. I Have Lost Those Whom I Like Brothers Like Him.”

Some of the Close Friends Who Died Include Soe’s Former Assistant Imam, Whom He Remembered His Strong Work Ethic and Remarkable Talent in Reciting The Quran.

The Principal of the Local Public School, Who Also The Only Female Trustee of The Myoma Mosque, Also Die. She was remembered by SOE Nay Oo a Generous Soul Who Would Often Pay Programmes out of her Own Pocket.

Hey Said Every Hears of Yet Another Person From The Community Who Die, He Experience New Wave of Grief. “I feel devastated … it all our mind to my mind, The Memories I Cherish of Them.

“Even Though There Goode Relatives, They Were The Ones Who Always Welcomed Me, Followed My Prayers, And Who Prayed Together.”

The fact that they dieving during Ramadan is not Him on Him. “All The Departed Have Returned To Allah’s Home, I Would Say. They Will Be Remembered As Martyrs Accordingly,” He Said.

Like Other Parts of Myanmar affected by The Quake, The Community Is Struggling With The Sheer Number of Bodies.

It has begun comply by ongoing Fighting Between the Military Junta and Resistance Groups. The Muslim Cemetery in Sagaing Is Close to the area controlled by The Rebel People’s Defense Forces (PDF), and has been closed to the public for Several Years. The Military has continued to Bomb Some Parts of the Wider Sagaing Region Following the Quake.

SAGAimp City’s Muslim Community has Had to Move their Dead to Mandalay, Crossing the Irrawaddy River Using the Sole Bridge Connecting the Two cities, According to SOE Nay Oo.

Their Bodies Are Being Left At Mandalay’s Biggest Burial for Mosque. Some Have Not Been Buried Within 24 Hours of Their Dead Per Islamic Tradition.

“For Muslims, It is The Saddest Thing, That We Cannot Bury Our Families at The End of Their Journey,” He said.

The Survivors Have Been Trying to Help In The Rescue, Even As They Cope With The Trauma. “Some From My Community Told me to Them. To Be Honest, They Could Even Describe Their Loss in Words When I Speak to Them.”

It is hard for soe nay to Be Far from His Former Congregation. Like Many Other People From Myanmar Who Have Migrated AbroadHe Feels Survivor’s Guilt.

“IF I Were Of The Quake, I Would Have Gone – That I Could Accept Peacefully. If Not, At Least I Could Be On The Ground to Do Anything That I Can.

“Now I Can’t Go Back. It’s Painful to Think About It.

Soe nay oo began to SOB. “Ther Sad and Frustrated Feeling I Have NOW, I Have Never Felt Ther Life in My Life. I am The Kind of Man Who Would Hardly Cry.

Hey adds That He has not been to be the day to sleep for sleep. His worry has been magnified by The Fact He has to hear from Some Family Members, Including His Own Sillings Who Were in Mandalay.

Soe Nay Oo Human Rights Group In Thailand and Is Currently Helping To Coordinate Rescue Efforts In Sagaing – Sharing Any Information He Get From His Contacts in The City.

At Least 1,000 Muslims in the Area Have Affected Who Still Need Assistance, He Estates.

“I Feel Relief Only Whenever On The Ground Asplik For Help, And I Can Help Them.”