Myanmar security forces open fire on funeral as global condemnation grows over Saturday’s killings
- The funeral, for one of the 114 people killed in Myanmar on Saturday, was held near commercial capital Yangon
- After Saturday’s bloodshed, the UN Special Rapporteur for Myanmar said the army was carrying out ‘mass murder’
Myanmar security forces opened fire on people gathered at a funeral on Sunday, witnesses said, a day after 114 people were killed in the bloodiest day of protests since the military coup on February 1.
The funeral, for one of the people killed on Saturday, was held in the town of Bago, near the commercial capital Yangon. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
“While we are singing the revolution song for him, security forces just arrived and shot at us,” said a woman called Aye, who was at the service for Thae Maung Maung, a 20-year-old student. “People, including us, run away as they opened fire.”
Three people were killed in firing on protests on Sunday in separate incidents elsewhere, witnesses and news reports said. One person was killed when troops opened fire overnight on a group of protesters near the capital Naypyitaw, Myanmar Now news reported.
There were no reports of large-scale protests in Yangon or in the country’s second city, Mandalay, which bore the brunt of the casualties on Saturday, Myanmar’s Armed Forces Day. Funerals were held in many places.
At least six children between the ages of 10 and 16 were among those killed on Saturday, according to news reports and witnesses. Protesters call the victims “Fallen Stars”.
The bloodshed drew renewed Western condemnation. The UN Special Rapporteur for Myanmar said the army was carrying out “mass murder” and called on the world to isolate the junta and halt its access to weapons.
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Mother grieves for ethnic Chinese son killed in one of Myanmar’s bloodiest protests