Type of Incident

Landmine explosion

Date of Incident(s)

July 9th 2022

Incident Location

(Village, Township and District)

At a dock located three miles away from Y--- village, A--- village tract[2], Ler Doh Township, Kler Lwee Htoo District

Victim Information

Name

U---

B---

Age

4 years old

24 years old

Sex

Male

Female

Ethnicity

Bamar[3]

Bamar

Family   

Yes

Yes

Occupation

None (dependent)

Day labourer

Religion

Buddhist

Buddhist

Position

Villager

Villager

Village

Y---, A--- village tract, Ler Doh Township, Kler Lwee Htoo District

Y---, A--- village tract, Ler Doh Township, Kler Lwee Htoo District

1. Explain in detail how you collected this information.

On July 22nd 2022, the KHRG field researcher contacted a local Karen National Union (KNU)[4] leader to get the contact number of the victims’ family members for detailed information about the incident after the news emerged on social media. On July 23rd 2022, the KHRG field researcher conducted an interview with T---, one of the family members.

2. Explain how the source verified this information.

The information was provided by T---, the great uncle of the boy who was injured in the landmine explosion. He is one of the guardians of the boy, and took responsibility for sending his grandnephew and his niece to the hospital, gave recommendations for their treatment, and provided his signature to approve of the medical treatment of the victims.

Describe the Incident(s) in complete detail. For each incident, be sure to include 1) when the incident happened, 2) where it happened, 3) what happened, 4) how it happened, 5) who was involved, and 6) why it happened. Also describe any villager response(s) to the incident, the aftermath and the current living situation of the victims. Please use the space prepared below, and create an attachment if needed.

At around 7:00 am on July 9th 2022, U---, a 4-year-old boy, stepped on a landmine at a dock in Y--- village, A--- village tract, Ler Doh Township, Kler Lwee Htoo District, injuring himself and his 24-year-old mother, B---. The victims were three miles away from their home in Y--- village. They were waiting for a boat to go to the Ka Yin Yoe hospital in Kyauk Ta Gha (Kyauktaga) Township [Bago Region, outside of KHRG’s operational area] because the boy was sick. B--- thought that she and her son could travel to the Ka Yin Yoe hospital when they saw other people were crossing from Y--- village to I--- village to go to a funeral ceremony for a relative. The boy stepped on the landmine near the dock when he got off the dock to urinate. Due to the landmine explosion, the boy sustained serious injuries to both of his legs and the mother to her head and face, along with minor injuries to her elbow.

After the landmine explosion, B--- tried to carry her son back to her village to get treatment for his injuries from village healthcare workers. On the way back to the village, they met a female villager from Y--- village who took them back to the village by motorbike, which took half an hour. B--- was unconscious when they arrived back to the village due to her injuries and shock. The healthcare workers in the village could not do anything to treat the boy because they had inadequate medical supplies, so U--- and B--- were sent to the Ka Yin Yoe hospital [in Kyauk Ta Gha Township] by boat [from the same dock where they were injured], accompanied by seven family members. It took them about 30 minutes to get to the Ka Yin Yoe hospital. A doctor from the Ka Yin Yoe hospital bandaged the injuries that the two victims sustained from the landmine explosion. The Ka Yin Yoe hospital was however unable to fully treat the injuries due to a lack of medical supplies. The victims were then transferred (by two ambulances) to Kyauktaga [Public] Hospital. When the boy and his mother were sent to Kyauktaga Hospital, the great uncle, T---, noticed that his grandnephew’s lips started to become pale. T--- told the healthcare workers at Kyauktaga Hospital to give U--- a blood transfusion, which the doctors did. Healthcare workers at Kyauktaga Hospital then instructed to transfer U--- and B--- to Pago [Bago] General Hospital as they also lacked adequate medical supplies. At first, the great uncle of U--- considered sending his grandnephew and his niece to Yangon General Hospital, but instead followed the recommendation of Kyauktaga Hospital.

As soon as the blood transfusion was finished, the boy and his mother were sent to the Pago General Hospital in Bago Town and arrived there at around 12:00 pm on July 9th. After they arrived at the Pago General Hospital, the doctor told the great uncle of the victim that his grandnephew needed to have both of his legs amputated. The doctors amputated Y---’s legs at around 3:00 pm. B--- was also in critical condition and required treatment for her injuries from the landmine fragments. The boy and his mother were hospitalised for seven days at Pago General Hospital. On July 15th 2022, they were discharged from the hospital. After the hospitalisation, the boy and mother stayed at E--- village at an acquaintance’s house [village tract not specified] for medical follow up at Kyauktaga Hospital. [At the time of reporting] neither the boy nor his mother had made a full recovery yet.] The Myanmar Red Cross Society (MRCS) contacted the Hpa-an prosthetic factory for U---’s prosthetic legs. The prosthetics will be given to the boy after two months [to wait for his injuries to heal].

The victims received 100,000 kyats [USD 47.62][5] from a State Administration Council (SAC)[6] army captain in Kyauktaga Town. A [cabinet] minister of the Pago Division also provided the victims 1,000,000 kyats [USD 476.19]. U---’s father is working as a day labourer in Thailand and sent his family some financial support [did not specify the amount]. The MRCS also provided the victims 600,000 kyats [USD 285.71] for the boy. There were seven family members, including the great uncle, who accompanied the victims to the different hospitals. It cost 1,300,000 kyats [USD 619.05] for the family members to pay for all of their travel and food costs. However, it did not cost anything for the medical treatment for the victims [the victims were not charged for the treatment].

It is unknown which armed group planted the landmine because the location of the landmine incident was an area where SAC troops, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA),[7] and other local ethnic armed groups have been operating. There had never been a landmine incident in Y--- village in the past. This was the first time a landmine incident happened there. The villagers from Y--- village have never attended a Mine Risk Awareness training. Now, the villagers are fearful of landmine explosions.  

The family members of the victims are ordinary day labourers who have no farmland. Therefore, the father of the child has to work in Thailand for the family’s livelihood. The family still needs help from charity [aid] organisations [to cover the travel costs]. The victim’s great uncle does not want landmines to be planted in or nearby the village because they interfere with villagers’ livelihoods and ability to travel.

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

The interviewee gave permission to document the information and publish it.