One killed, one injured in Myanmar bus blast

15-07-2008

YANGON (AFP) - One man was killed and another injured when a bomb went off aboard a passenger bus headed to Myanmar's main city, state-run media reported on Tuesday.
The explosion took place at 8:50 am (0220 GMT) on Monday, en route to the country's economic hub Yangon, according to the official The New Light of Myanmar newspaper.

"One passenger died and another was injured in an explosion on a bus en-route from Kyaukkyi to Yangon," the paper said, noting that authorities are investigating the blast.

The man who died was a 55-year-old named Khant, it said. A 46-year-old man named Pa Pa received a stomach injury in the blast which took place near Daik Oo town, 85 miles (135 kilometres) northeast of Yangon.

Authorities immediately blamed insurgents for the bombing.

"Insurgents have committed destructive acts to jeopardize the stability of the state, community peace and prevalence of law and order to cause panic among the people," the paper said.

The bus journey started in Kyaukkyi near the border of Karen state where ethnic rebels have battled for decades against the military regime, who have run Myanmar since 1962, for autonomy in their region.

Earlier this month a small bomb exploded at the offices of the pro-junta Union Solidarity and Development Association on the outskirts of Yangon, causing no injuries but blowing a hole in the wall of the building.

Myanmar faces scores of organised resistance groups. Such small explosions are usually blamed on ethnic rebels or exiled dissident groups.