Five friends defied the junta to care for people injured in the military coup. One returned from the battlefield to find his four friends among the dead in the March 28 earthquake.

The death toll in Myanmar has surpassed 3,000, with more than 4,500 people injured, according to state television MRTV. Yet relief aid is proceeding slowly, as humanitarian groups say the military government has blocked access to some quake-stricken areas.

Myanmar's ruling junta should free up movement by international aid workers to help survivors of a devastating earthquake, even in areas controlled by groups battling it, aid and human rights groups said,

BANGKOK (AP) — The death toll from the earthquake that hit Myanmar nearly a week ago rose Thursday to 3,145 as search and rescue teams found more bodies, the military-led government said, and humanitarian aid groups scrambled to provide survivors medical care and shelter.