In Bangkok, a desperate search for survivors buried beneath a collapsed building

The mountain of Kurabu was almost seven stories tall. There were clouds of dust. And then there was a 96 degrees Fahrenheit fever.

Rescuers were desperately scrutinizing for survivors on Saturday at the site of a Bangkok skyscraper that collapsed after a powerful earthquake in Myanmar. Eight people were confirmed to have died on the site, but more scores were missing, and workers buried mostly as a 33-storey structure under construction fell on their own near the city's Chatuchuck Park.

Rescuers used several excavators to dig up debris, dumped and carried away the truck, spraying water mist to improve visibility. Some relatives of the trapped people have seen, hoping that their loved ones might be drawn out alive.

Earlier that day there was a flicker of hope. The crew detected signs of 15 survivors in multiple locations, Suriachai Rawiwan, director of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, told reporters. Some were buried under a 10-foot tiled ble.

However, almost 24 hours after the earthquake shook Bangkok, there was no update on survivors by 3pm local time. All trapped members were estimated to be part of a crew of 320 workers who will install new buildings for the Thai government.

“The building came down very quickly,” he said more than 42-year-old Htike. He added that he is still in shock. The two fathers, from Bago, Myanmar, said he was on the ground floor and was able to escape, but his wife, who helped build the elevator shaft on the sixth floor, was still missing.

Htike said he spent all his Friday afternoon and evening on the site and wanted signs of life from his wife and colleagues who are still trapped on a mountain of tile rubs.

“I want to get my wife back,” he said.

Like other migrant workers from Myanmar, the economic hardships in the home country forced couples to seek employment in Thailand. They have been working at a construction site in Bangkok for the past three years, making around $10 per day of tie bats, about $10.

Natthanan Kaewkaiyasit, 49, was among those still waiting for news about his loved ones on the site. Her partner, Noi Ticha, a 53-year-old welding machine, was missing.

“We have to expect miracles. I'm here and waiting,” she said.

Aubonrat Setnawet, 44, was at the construction site when the earthquake struck.

“I felt everything swing and I thought I would faint because everything was dizzy,” she said. “Then I heard the sound of some kind of cracking and then drove off with the others. I saw the building shaking before it collapsed.”

She began working with her husband on the site earlier this month.

She said she wanted a miracle.