Content warning: This report contains graphic images of wounded and dead protesters
At least 16 people were shot in Yangon on Sunday as the military ordered deadly attacks on peaceful protesters across the country, according to hospital records seen by Myanmar Now and statements from medics.
Four of those shot in the city were killed and a 31-year-old man is in a critical condition after being shot in the neck. At least 14 other deaths have been confirmed in other parts of the country, including in Dawei and Mandalay.
It was the bloodiest day since the February 1 coup, as military chief Min Aung Hlaing sought to stamp out a massive nationwide uprising aimed at removing his regime from power.
There were a total 19 admissions to Yangon General Hospital in the wake of the attacks and another two at Thingangyun Sanpya Hospital.
Three of those brought to Yangon General Hospital were already dead when they arrived. They were 23-year-old IT worker Nyi Nyi Aung Htet Naing, 59-year-old middle school teacher Tin Nwet Yee, and a young man named Zin Lin Htet.
The records show Nyi Nyi Aung Htet Naing died after a bullet penetrated his lower torso. Three Myanmar Now reporters witnessed him being shot in Hledan on Sunday morning before protesters carried him away.
A fourth person, 23-year-old Hein Htut Aung, was pronounced dead when he arrived at Thingangyun Sanpya Hospital with a bullet wound in his chest.
Others were injured by bullet wounds in the shoulder, thigh, big toe and neck, while a 21-year-old woman suffered a massive wound in her leg from a “bomb blast” believed to have been from a stun grenade.
Two people were treated for injuries from being beaten by security forces and another two were admitted after inhaling tear gas. One man arrived with a puncture wound in his arm from falling on a fence spike while trying to escape the police.
Most of the hospitalised protesters were from Hledan, with others injured at rallying areas in Tamwe and Yankin.
Five patients have been discharged from Yangon General Hospital and another 10 were transferred to a private hospital, a doctor said. The doctor declined to reveal which hospital the 10 were transferred to out of concern for their safety.
The hospital’s emergency department, which had been closed for weeks amid a nationwide general strike aimed at crippling the junta, was reopened “out of necessity” on Sunday, a doctor said.
Medics, who have been at the forefront of mass work stoppages, made a collective decision to reopen to treat the wounded while continuing to disobey orders from the military regime.
At least 270 were arrested on Sunday, according to the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners. But the group said it was trying to confirm reports of more than 1,000 being detained.
A total of 13 journalists, including Myanmar Now’s multimedia reporter Kay Zon Nway, were confirmed as among those detained over the weekend.
In a statement on Monday, striking medics and doctors condemned the “brutal killings of peaceful, unarmed protesters by the security forces.”
“The military council not only seized state power unjustly but also is committing killings continuously,” the statement said. “While we will be documenting and reporting those, we will also continue to do the civil disobedience movement until it succeeds.”
