The Japanese government has confirmed the first Japanese fatality in last month's 7.7 magnitude earthquake in Myanmar, a Foreign Ministry official said Monday.
The Japanese individual who had been unaccounted for in the Southeast Asian nation's second-biggest city of Mandalay was confirmed dead, the official said. The city was hit hard by the disaster, being close to the epicenter.
The ministry through the Japanese Embassy in Myanmar had asked local authorities to search for the individual. According to informed sources, the person's body was found at the site of a collapsed building Saturday.
"We'd like to express our deep gratitude to those involved in the search and rescue in Myanmar," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told a news conference Monday.
The government said earlier that two other Japanese nationals have been confirmed injured in the quake, although they were not in a life-threatening condition. Another Japanese national was injured in the Thai capital of Bangkok following the quake in neighboring Myanmar.
The Japanese Foreign Ministry has said that it will provide emergency grant aid of around $6 million for people affected by the quake via international organizations. Japan has also sent an emergency medical team and relief supplies to Myanmar.
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