At least 40 people have died, with scores more injured, following a bomb attack perpetrated by a paraglider at a festival in central Myanmar’s Chaung U township. The Thadingyut full moon festival was in full swing, with hundreds of attendees present when the horrific incident occurred.
The military is believed to be behind the bombing, which left approximately 80 people wounded. A member of the event’s organising committee, who wished to remain anonymous due to safety concerns, suggested that the army was involved. She revealed that the crowd had gathered for both the festival and an anti-junta demonstration around 7pm on Monday (October 6) when the bombs were dropped, resulting in over 40 fatalities and about 80 injuries. Speaking to AFP, she said: “The committee alerted people and one-third of the crowd managed to flee. But immediately, one motor-powered paraglider flew right over the crowd, dropping two bombs on the centre of the gathering.”
In a chilling account, she described children being ripped away from their families. Although she wasn’t present at the scene, she attended the funerals the following day.
She added: “Children were completely torn apart.”
Once the paraglider had left the city, local residents hurried to the scene to assist survivors and tend to the injured. She stated: “As of this morning, we were still collecting body parts from the ground – pieces of flesh, limbs, parts of bodies that were blown apart.”
A local, who wished to remain unnamed, confirmed the high number of casualties. He described how people tried to flee upon spotting the paraglider overhead.
He recalled: “While I was saying to people ‘please don’t run’, the paramotor dropped two bombs.
“Two of my comrades were killed just in front of me. There were even more who died in front of me.”
He attended funerals on Tuesday for nine friends who lost their lives. A local news source also reported that 40 individuals perished in the attack.
Myanmar has been embroiled in a civil war since the military coup in 2021, with armed factions rising against the junta.