Three landmines exploded near the 96 mile marker of a highway connecting Minbya and Mrauk U in Rakhine State at 7:45 pm on Tuesday.
The explosion site lies between Sat Kyar and Tan Seik villages, eight miles from Minbya. The landmines went off as a truck heading toward Sittwe with relief items and a bus from Kissapanadi Bus Line on its way to Yangon gave one another space as they passed, according to Police Lt Nyi Nyi of Minbya Myoma Police Station.
“It is not true that the relief truck was targeted. The truck coming from Yangon and the bus heading to Yangon were avoiding each other when the landmines exploded under a tree by the road,” the police official said.
No one was injured, but the windshields of both vehicles were shattered by the explosion. The police station has opened a case under the Explosive Substances Act and has been working to identify the types of landmines that went off in the blast.
Reuters reported on Sept. 10 that five landmine deaths in Rakhine State had been reported in total by Bangladeshi border guards and Amnesty International, the casualties being self-identifying Rohingya fleeing Myanmar for Bangladesh.
According to the UN, more than 420,000 Muslims have left Rakhine State and sought refuge in Bangladesh since militants attacked 30 police outposts in the region on Aug. 25, after which “clearance operations” by the Myanmar Army followed. An additional 30,000 Arakanese Buddhists and Hindus remain internally displaced in the region.
