One woman injured in Yangon train station blast: police

01-13-2008, 09h41
YANGON (AFP)

A blast at a railway station in Myanmar's main city of Yangon injured a woman on Sunday, police said, while witnesses reported hearing a loud bang and seeing smoke billowing from the building.

The explosion hit near the public bathrooms in the main train station serving Myanmar's former capital, wounding a woman who was washing, a Yangon police officer told AFP.

"The injured woman was 73-years-old, and she was slightly injured," he said. Police had earlier said that the injured person was a man.

Vendors and passers-by told AFP that they heard what sounded like an explosion at about 2:30 pm (0800 GMT).

"We saw some smoke and we heard the sound, it was like a car tyre exploded," said one vendor, who wished to remain anonymous. "I have never seen anything like this before."

Another policeman said that a bomb had been planted at the station, but the authorities in reclusive military-run Myanmar were not able to officially confirm any reports.

Security officials swiftly cordoned off the area, with police and soldiers blocking access to the site of the incident, where a curious crowd gathered to try and find out what had happened.

Myanmar has been hit by a series of small blasts over the last few days.

A woman was killed by a bomb Friday at the railway station serving the remote new capital of Naypyidaw, while a man was killed and four people were injured Saturday in a blast in central Myanmar's Bago Division.

State-run newspaper the New Light of Myanmar on Sunday blamed both of those incidents on the Karen National Union (KNU), an armed ethnic rebel group battling the junta, and said the two who died were insurgents.

A year ago, a small parcel bomb injured a postal worker in Yangon, with an exiled Myanmar student activist group claiming responsibility.

AFP