One Killed, Two Injured in Northern Shan State Landmine Accident
A group of five civilians were searching for edible mushrooms in the forest when the mine was triggered.
By NETWORK MEDIA GROUP (NMG)
Friday, July 27, 2018
One person was killed and two were injured when a villager stepped on a landmine in northern Shan State’s Tarmonye sub-township earlier this week.
A local woman assisting the survivors in a Lashio hospital said the incident occurred at around 5 p.m. on July 23, while the individuals—a group of five—were searching for edible mushrooms in the forest of Mongse village tract.
“One woman walked ahead of the other people and then her leg touched a string attached to a landmine, and the landmine exploded. She sustained serious injuries to both her legs. The second and the third person in line also were injured,” she said, adding that the woman who initially triggered the mine succumbed to her injuries before she could be brought back to the village. Her name was Lashi Kawt Nan.
The other two individuals—La Doi, who was the husband of Lashi Kawt Nan, and a woman named Lahtaw Seng Mai—are now in a Lashio public hospital, after the two uninjured people in the group sought help from villagers in the nearby community of Kawng Lane.
La Doi and Lahtaw Seng Mai reportedly were struck in the legs by metal spinners from the landmine and are now awaiting surgery to have them removed.
According to the Myanmar Red Cross Association, more than 600 people sustained landmine injuries between 2014 and mid-2018 in Myanmar. During this time, 95 people were also killed by landmines. Most landmine victims are in Kachin and Shan states, according to Shan State government.
