Debris and blood on the floor at InSense Prison after several explosions.
Yangon:
At least two bombs exploded outside a prison in Yangon, Myanmar’s commercial hub, on Wednesday, killing eight people and injuring 18.
The Southeast Asian country has been in turmoil since a military coup last year, with fighting raging in many parts of the country.
Junta officials said in a statement without giving the number of explosions that the bomb hit a crowd queuing to drop off parcels for prisoners at Insen Prison.
He blamed “terrorists” and said the dead included three prison staff and a 10-year-old girl.
The junta said security forces had neutralized another “house mine” found nearby.
An eyewitness standing in a queue at the parcel counter told AFP that the first blast happened around 9:30 a.m. (0300 GMT).
The witness, on condition of anonymity, said, “Then two more quickly left. After that we also heard the shooting.”
“I saw some people bleeding. The glass around the counter was broken.”
According to another eyewitness, security forces cordoned off the area around the huge colonial-era prison after the blasts.
Photos claiming to have captured the incident in local media showed blood stains on the floor around a counter and broken rear windows.
There was no claim of responsibility.
A Junta spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
Amnesty International said it is “extremely disturbed by the reports and images emerging from the explosions at Insen Prison … no one should die while delivering parcels to their loved ones.”
Prisoners in Myanmar prisons often depend on friends or family for food and medicine supplies.
Rights groups say Insen holds hundreds of political prisoners, including former British ambassador to Myanmar Vicky Bowman and Japanese journalist Toru Kubota.
A local lawyer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the hearing in a special court inside the jail premises was postponed for a day after the blasts.
turmoil
The conflict in Myanmar has intensified since the coup.
Some analysts say the self-proclaimed civilian “People’s Defense Force” (PDF) has surprised the military with its effectiveness in fighting the junta.
Across the country, there are almost daily killings of lower-level junta officers or anti-coup activists, with details unclear and retaliation often quickly following.
While most of the violence has taken place in rural areas, Yangon has also been shaken by a flurry of bombings.
In July, two people were killed and 11 were injured in a bomb blast near a shopping mall in the city.
In May, an explosion near a bus stop in a busy neighborhood killed one person and injured nine.
The junta later stated that the bomb was accidentally detonated and that the victim was in contact with PDF groups it has declared a “terrorist”.
According to a local watchdog group, more than 2,300 people have been killed and more than 15,000 arrested in the military crackdown on dissent since the coup.
The junta blames anti-coup fighters for the deaths of about 3,900 civilians.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)