A SOUTH African teacher working in Myanmar, Sibonelo Myeni said despite losing his girlfriend and some critical documents during the deadly earthquake, he will remain in the Southeast Asian nation.

International news reports pegged the death toll from the 28 March quake above 3 300, with more than 4 500 people injured when the 7.7 magnitude earthquake rocked the region.

IOL reported on Sunday that at least 12 South Africans are accounted for, safe and unharmed in Myanmar, in the aftermath of the deadly earthquake.

Head of public diplomacy at the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco), Clayson Manyela, also clarified that the total of 12 was a moving target and the number could go up at any time, as and when they discover more South Africans in Myanmar.

Myeni told broadcaster Newzroom Afrika from Yangon that he intends to stay and continue working, adding that tragedy would still strike even if he was back home in South Africa.

He said: “I am going to stay and continue doing what I came here to do.

“These things can happen anywhere in the world and you can never predict. You could be in South Africa and lighting strikes, or you get robbed.

“So, I think for me it is one and the same thing.

Myeni, a music and art teacher said the disaster struck when he was in class, but there were no learners at the time.

He shared: “There were no kids inside my classroom, it was just me. The building started shaking violently as if it is made out of rubber band. I couldn’t make sense of it for the first 10 seconds, and then after that I thought about hiding under the table.

“It was impossible because there was very little space under my desk ... I could only hide my head and shoulders.”

He said his employer, in conjunction with the United States embassy, made arrangements for the officials to be moved to the city of Yangon, from the second-largest city in Myanmar, Mandalay.

He added: “Right now I am in another city, because our school made arrangements for us to be transported in connection with the US embassy.

“But being in Mandalay was a nightmare right now because I could smell dead bodies when I left.”