By Yoon Sat - Apr 10, 2025
One worker died and 24 others were injured when the shop collapsed due to the March 28 earthquake at W8W Hair Design Beauty Salon, located between 64th and 65th Streets on 41st Street in Mandalay. The shop owner has allegedly avoided responsibility and has yet to pay the workers their due wages.
“There’s been no rescue or support at all. They didn’t even cover full medical costs. Instead, they told the parents and workers to get the money from their own families. No one can get in touch with the owner. For one worker, the treatment cost over 1,500,000 kyats, but they were given only 1,000,000 kyats, with the excuse that there was nothing left. After the funeral, the owner gave each affected worker 150,000 kyats for travel expenses and hasn’t looked back since,” a staff member wrote on Facebook.
During the first earthquake tremor, both owner and workers escaped safely. However, when the owner ordered staff back into the shop to clean up, shouting and scolding them, a second tremor hit. This time, six workers were severely injured and one died. Afterward, the owner gave each affected staff member 150,000 kyats as travel support and later claimed that losses were too high to pay the remaining salaries.
“They can pay if they really want to. It’s possible to pay all 24 workers their salaries if the owner has the willingness,” said staff members. They added that some staff whose IDs were lost in the collapse repeatedly contacted the owner asking for recommendation letters, but the owner avoided them, citing travel as an excuse.
The workers also stated that the owner forced them to remove TikTok videos showing the collapsed beauty salon, and that she returned to the ruins to collect cash and valuable items from the wreckage.
One employee expressed deep gratitude on her social media page to the Maha Myaing Social Rescue Team and Nan Oo Lwin Hospital for providing emergency housing and essential aid when there was no place to stay.
The incident highlights a recurring pattern where workers injured or killed in workplace disasters receive little to no acknowledgment or accountability from business owners—a concern Myanmar Labour News continues to observe.
