Take care when hiking in Myanmar

sigmoid · Post by **sigmoid** » Wed Nov 27, 2019 12:48 am

Foreign tourist killed in landmine blast in Myanmar hiking region

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myan ... SKBN1Y020A

A foreign tourist was killed and his companion injured in a suspected landmine blast in a popular hiking region in northern Myanmar close to an area of clashes between ethnic rebel groups and government troops, local sources said on Tuesday.

The pair were found outside Hsipaw town, northern Shan state, according to the leader of a charity group that brought them to a local hospital. Their nationalities could not be immediately confirmed.

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Two German travelers and their guide were wounded by shrapnel in a landmine blast in the same area in 2016.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myan ... SKBN1Y020A

John Bingham · Post by **John Bingham** » Wed Nov 27, 2019 1:05 am

That's one of the first times I've ever heard of a tourist anywhere being killed by a landmine. Is it really a popular hiking trail they were on?

Jim Gil · Post by **Jim Gil** » Wed Nov 27, 2019 1:43 am

Damn RIP
I went on a hiking trek with a guide in Hsipaw early 2000s.
I don't think I was told that there were mines in that area as I probably wouldn't have gone on a trek knowing that.

phuketrichard · Post by **phuketrichard** » Wed Nov 27, 2019 8:04 am

The dam Tatmadaw in Burma only wants complete control of an area they will never get complete control of.
Still hundreds of thousands of refugees living along the Thai/Burma border

fighting in northern Shan State. The refugees said forces of the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and its ally Shan State Progress Party (SSPP) have been battling fighters of the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) since the start of the year in several areas in Namtu and Hsipaw townships

https://www.mmtimes.com/news/more-flee- ... state.html

phuketrichard · Post by **phuketrichard** » Wed Nov 27, 2019 3:46 pm

more info

According to a local volunteer rescue group that responded to the incident, the two were traveling by motorcycle between Pan Nyaung Village and Kun Hauk Village about 25 kilometers west of Hsipaw Township. The road between the villages is so bumpy that the woman was forced to get off the bike and walk behind it. She was following on foot when the motorbike struck the landmine at about 5 p.m.

“The man was driving a motorcycle on the village track and rode over the landmine. He was in his 40s and suffered serious injuries to his chest, waist and leg. He died on the spot,” said Ko Myo of the group Hsipaw Social Volunteers Without Borders.

https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/ge ... 0v-DltS1o4