Mon, 19 Aug 2019
Toungoo Incident Report: A villager sustained injuries after being hit by a Tatmadaw truck in Thandaunggyi Township, May 2019

On May 10th 2019, a civilian travelling by motorbike sustained knee and foot injuries after he was hit by a Tatmadaw [1] truck travelling at high speed outside of Pyar S'Kan village, Thandaunggyi Township, Toungoo District. The truck did not stop and the victim dared not report the incident. He also chose to treat his wounds using traditional remedies as he could not afford proper healthcare. [2]

 

 

Part 1 - Incident Details

Type of Incident Road accident caused by the Tatmadaw
Date of Incident (s) May 10th 2019

Incident Location (Village, Township and District)

Outside of Pyar S'Kan village, Thandaunggyi Township, Toungoo District
Victim Information
Name Saw T---
Age 26
Sex Male
Ethnicity Karen
Family Married
Occupation Farmer
Religion Christian
Position Villager
Village H ---
Perpetrator Information
Name (s) Rank Unit Base Commander's
N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

 

Part 2 - Information Quality

1. Explain in detail how you collected this information.
I heard about this incident from a villager so I interviewed the victim.
2. Explain how the source verifed this information. 
The source experienced this incident first hand. 

 

Part 3 - Complete Description of the Incident

Describe the Incident(s) in complete detail. 

On May 10th 2019, five Tatmadaw trucks carrying wood and bamboo were travelling from Thandaunggyi, Baw G’Lee to Taungoo at high speed. In Hset Ta Mai, outside of Pyar S’Kan village, Ywar Kyi village tract, Thandaunggyi Township, the last truck tried to overtake the other four trucks. While doing so, it hit Saw T---, a villager who was travelling from Taungoo to H--- village by motorbike. His motorbike crashed on the side of the road and broke down. Saw T--- also sustained knee and foot injuries. Two rice sacks that he was carrying on his motorbike broke open and the rice spilled all over the road.                                                         

 

The Tatmadaw truck did not stop after the incident. Due to his injuries, Saw T--- could not stand up anymore so he called his friends from Pyar S’Kan village on the phone to help him. Thirty minutes later, around 3:30 PM, his friends reached the incident site and tried to collect the rice that had spilled on the road.

 

They took Saw T--- to a clinic to treat his injuries. He got four stitches because of his knee wound and was told he needed to do an X-ray. Since there was no X-ray machine in that clinic, he chose not to do it because it would cost a lot of money to do it at the hospital. Instead, he decided to go back to his village and treat the wound using traditional or herbal remedies.

 

Saw T---did not know who to report the incident to, and was afraid of facing trial since he was hit by a military truck. Thus, he remained silent. He said that he feels frustrated because he does not know how long it will take to recover from his injuries and how much more he will have to pay for  the treatment. In addition, he cannot afford to repair his motorbike or to buy a new one. 

 

Part 4 - Permission for Using the Details 

Did the victim(s) provide permission to use this information? Explain how that permission was provided. 
The victim gave KHRG permission to use this information. 

 

Mon, 19 Aug 2019

Footnotes: 

[1] Tatmadaw refers to the Myanmar military.

[2] The present document is based on information received in June 2019. It was provided by a community member in Toungoo District who has been trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions on the ground. The names of the victims, their photos and the exact locations are censored for security reasons. The parts in square brackets are explanations added by KHRG staff.

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