Middle school student killed in Ann Twsp landmine blast

By DMG 10 Jul 2022

DMG Newsroom
10 July 2022, Ann 

A Grade 8 student from Kazukaing village in Arakan State’s Ann Township was killed in a landmine explosion on Saturday, according to family members of the victim. 

The boy has been identified as Maung Sithu Kyaw Lin, 15. He stepped on a landmine when he went to a hill where Myanmar military troops are stationed to collect bamboo shoots. His body was found on the morning of July 10, said U Kyaw Than, the grandfather of the victim and the administrator of Kazukaing village. 

“My grandson is a Grade 8 student from a school in the village. The students at the school are planning to donate a Waso robe to the Buddhist monks. My grandson went to the hill to collect bamboo shoots at around 8 a.m. yesterday. He wanted to make money from selling bamboo shoots for the Waso robe offering ceremony. He encountered the landmine about an hour later,” U Kyaw Than explained. 

Family members say the death may have been prevented if Maung Sithu Kyaw Lin had been found in time. 

“When we heard the landmine blast at around 9:30 a.m., we went to the hill to search for him but we were not allowed by the junta soldiers. We had to give up and return because of the danger of landmines,” U Kyaw Than added. 

The teenage victim’s body was found with a severed leg and a broken right arm, leading the family to conclude that he likely died of excessive bleeding. 

“At around 9 a.m. on July 10, we searched again and found one of his left legs about 12 feet from the site of the blast. We regret that he may have died from excessive bleeding,” U Kyaw Than said. 

The victim’s body was reportedly taken to Kazukaing village cemetery on Sunday morning and was buried in the afternoon. 

Though the conflict between the military and Arakan Army came to a halt toward the end of 2020, landmine casualties have continued with regularity in the months since. 

Two Muslim boys from Paungtoke village in Arakan State’s Mrauk-U Township were injured in a landmine explosion on Friday. The two teens are receiving medical treatment at Myaungbwe rural hospital and the condition of one, who lost his right leg, is considered life-threatening. 

A man from Myarlikan village in Arakan State’s Kyauktaw Township was grievously wounded in a landmine blast on July 4 and later died in hospital, becoming the township’s second landmine fatality in less than a week. He was preceded by a man from Wethmine village in Kyauktaw Township, who was severely injured in a landmine blast on July 1 and succumbed to his injuries the next day while undergoing medical treatment.