Grenade attack on orphanage in Kachin kills 10, wounds 27

Grenade attack on orphanage in Kachin kills 10, wounds 27
Monday, 14 November 2011 15:44 Phanida

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – A hand grenade thrown into an orphanage in Myitkyina in the north of Burma killed 10 people and seriously injured 27 on Sunday evening, according to residents.


A hand grenade thrown into an orphanage in Myitkyina, Kachin State, killed 10 people and seriously injured 27 on Sunday evening. Three buildings including an orphanage burned after the grenade attack. Photo: Hkra U/ Mizzima


At around 9 p.m., two people riding a motorcycle threw a parcel that contained a grenade into an orphanage owned by Dayaung Tangoon near the AG Church in Thida Ward in the capital of Kachin State.

Ten people including Dayaung Tangoon’s teenage son, Sai Kwan, one daughter and a 1-year-old grandchild were killed by the explosion.

Three buildings including the orphanage burned after the attack. Residents said they have no idea who was responsible for the bombing.

“At the back of Dayaung Tangoon’s orphanage, there is a path. Residents said that two people riding a motorcycle threw a parcel into the orphanage compound and shortly after that they heard the sound of the blast,” a neighbour said.

Dayaung Tangoon, a member of Myanmar Martial Art Federation, was traveling when the bombing occurred. More than 30 people including orphans, refugee children and martial arts students lived in the compound.

Some of the injured underwent surgery at the local hospital.

Increased police patrols have basically shut down the city after 7 p.m.

Residents said a series of earlier bomb explosions were probably intended as threats because they occurred in unpopulated areas.

The state-run newspaper New Light of Myanmar reported on Monday that two bomb blasts hit Myitkyina on Sunday evening, and authorities successfully removed one time bomb.

The newspaper said that an explosion occurred near the Sports and Physical Education Department Office in Thida Ward at 9.55 p.m., leaving a deep hole marking the explosion.

Another blast followed at 10.15 p.m. near Sumprabum Road and Sethmu junction in Tatkon Ward. There were no casualties, said the newspaper.

The newspaper also reported a time bomb was disabled: “Acting on a tip-off that a suspicious package was found near a lamppost by Aung San Road in Ayeya Ward in Myitkyina, authorities removed a time bomb in a plastic box with a diameter of 3 X 2 inches filled with TNT gunpowder set to detonate at 9 p.m.”

On Monday, Kachin State Chief Minister La John Ngan Hsai visited the injured at Myitkyina Hospital.

The Kachin Independence Organization and government troops have been fighting about 10 miles away from Myitkyina.