Women from Kyauktaw, Paletwa townships injured after stepping on landmines

By DMG 18 Jun 2021

DMG Newsroom
18 June 2021, Kyauktaw

Two women suffered severed limbs in two separate landmine encounters on back-to-back days in western Myanmar this week.

Daw Aye Mya, 49, from Ngapyaw Chaung village in Arakan State’s Kyauktaw Township, stepped on a landmine while she was foraging for bamboo shoots in the forest with five other women on Thursday afternoon, said U Aung Myint, a family member of the victim.

She lost her left foot and sustained injuries to the right side of her body, including to her leg and stomach.

“She has a daughter. She is selling bamboo shoots to earn money to send her daughter to school,” said U Aung Myint.

Daw Aye Mya was transferred to Sittwe General Hospital from Kyauktaw Hospital due to the severity of her injuries, according to her daughter Ma Su Pone Chit.

A day earlier, on June 16, Daw Seik Haw from Auk Than Htaung village, in Chin State’s Paletwa Township, stepped on a landmine while foraging for bamboo shoots on a mountainside near her village, severing her right leg, said U Aung Aung Than, a family member of the victim.

The woman, in her 40s, has been provided medical treatment at Mrauk-U General Hospital.

“The superintendent of the hospital is absent, but other medical staff are providing medical treatment. Her health is good apart from her foot being cut off,” he said.

According to a survey conducted by the Rakhine Ethnics Congress, 49 people were killed and 79 were injured by explosive remnants of war (ERWs) including landmines since the start of fighting in Arakan State more than two years ago.