Myanmars junta leader heading for trip overseas as aid groups push for access [Video]

Myanmar’s ostracized leader Min Aung Hlaing will leave his disaster-stricken country on Thursday for a rare trip to a regional summit, state TV said, as aid groups called for restrictions to be eased to reach survivors of a devastating earthquake.

The 7.7 magnitude quake, one of the strongest to hit Myanmar in a century, jolted a region that is home to 28 million people, toppling buildings, flattening communities and leaving many without food, water and shelter. China’s state television said the death toll had passed 3,000, citing official figures.

The military has struggled to run Myanmar since its return to power in a 2021 coup that unseated the elected civilian government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. The generals have been internationally isolated since the takeover and Myanmar’s economy and basic services including health care have been reduced to tatters amid an outbreak of civil war.

The government on state-run MRTV late …