Ann Twsp villager succumbs to landmine injuries

By DMG 15 May 2021

DMG Newsroom
15 May 2021, Ann

A resident of Darlat Anauk (West) village in Ann Township, Arakan State, died at a military hospital after stepping on a landmine on Saturday, villagers said.

U Kyaw Tun Oo, the 66-year-old villager, encountered the landmine at about 10 a.m. while walking on his cashew nut farm, said Ko Myo Lwin, a resident of Ann.

“He has a cashew nut plantation between Mingaladon and Natmaw villages. He asked some Chin youths to pick cashew nuts on the plantation, and he was hit by a landmine when he walked around the plantation to see how much he had earned,” Ko Myo Lwin said. “The landmine blast shattered both lower legs below the knee.” 

He continued that U Kyaw Tun Oo was taken by car to the military hospital in Ann town, arriving at the hospital at 1:30 p.m. and succumbing to his wounds not long thereafter. 

“He died at the military hospital about an hour and a half after being treated for 20 minutes. He died of severe injuries when his legs were amputated due to his age,” Ko Myo Lwin said.

A Tatmadaw contingent has been based near the site of the landmine explosion for more than a year, according to local villagers.

At least 40 people were killed and 80 others were injured by landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERWs) during some two years of fighting between the military and the Arakan Army in Arakan State, according to figures from the Rakhine Ethnics Congress.