At least eight people have been killed and 18 injured after an explosion this Wednesday at a prison in Insein, Myanmar’s largest, and home to most of the political prisoners of the current military regime.
According to eyewitnesses, some civilians were killed when military council troops recklessly fired their weapons into the mailroom after a bomb explosion in the mailroom near the entrance to Insein Prison in Yangon on Oct. 19 at 9:33 am.#2022Oct19Couppic.twitter.com/KlIGIoDavm
— Nant Ei Thandar (@NantEiThandar) October 19, 2022
The explosion was recorded at 9:40 a.m. (6:30 a.m. in Lisbon), near a facility where prison staff pick up orders containing food and other goods sent to inmates by relatives.
According to a statement from the military junta, the area where the blast took place is near the main entrance to the prison in the event of a terrorist attack.
“The terrorist placed the bomb in one of the packages and caused the explosion,” the document says, adding that during the evacuation of the building, “another bomb was found in another package and it was deactivated.”
The explosion killed three prison workers and five civilians.
Most of the 18 injured are civilians, with the exception of five prison staff.
Footage of the scene shows bloodstains and broken glass.
According to the independent Burmese newspaper Myanmar Now, shots were heard after the explosion.
The shots were fired by guards who were in a security tower and caused the escape of visitors who were at the entrance of the building.
Another testimony, collected by the same publication, indicates that the guards fired “randomly” at the “population” and that the bullets hit several people.
In the official communiqué, the military junta makes no mention of firing with firearms.
The authorities closed the prison to visiting prisoners. The largest prison in Myanmar (formerly Burma), located north of the city of Rangoon, holds about ten thousand inmates.
According to the local press, the “attack” was not claimed and the Military Junta announced “measures against the terrorists, in accordance with the law”.
Since the February 2021 military coup that overthrew the democratic government, several opposition groups have chosen to resort to armed struggle against the ruling regime.
The self-proclaimed national unity government, loyal to imprisoned leader Aung Saan Suu Kyi, created its own armed forces, mostly operating in border areas.
The Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners, a Burmese human rights group, says at least 2,367 people have died as a result of repression by military authorities and more than 12,600 have been arbitrarily arrested.
Source: DN
