Saturday, December 19, 2009

Bomb blast victim sent to Rangoon hospital

 
by Kyaw Kha
Friday, 18 December 2009 18:33

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) - A girl injured in a bomb blast in Phapun, Karen State, is being referred to Rangoon General Hospital, local authorities said.

A seven-year old girl was severely injured in the head. The authorities are now preparing to send her to Rangoon General Hospital.

“ She is in a critical condition as she was injured in the head,” a local official told Mizzima.

A time bomb exploded at about 9 p.m. on December 16 in a football field in front of a school while the Karen New Year celebrations were being held at the No. 2 Ward. The state run media reported that the blast killed seven people and injured 11.

Makeshift stalls selling apparel and toys are located where the bomb went off.

Local official told Mizzima that the blast killed eight people and injured 12 of which one is an ethnic Karen, five are Burman and two are of Indian origin.

Among the injured two are children and the rest are men above 16. All of them were sent to Phapun and Hpa-an hospitals.

The armed ethnic revolutionary group the Karen National Union (KNU) categorically denied allegations by the military regime that they were behind the blast.

“This is the SPDC’s handiwork and is a part of their plan to destroy the culture of ethnic people. This bomb blast has nothing to do with us,” the Thai-Burma border based KNU Vice-Chairman David Tharkapaw told Mizzima.

Earlier, the Karen New Year celebration was supposed to be held at the foot of landmark Zwekabin Mountain but it had to be shifted to Taungalay and Myaingyingu for security reasons, a Shwekokko based DKBA battalion official said.