Security forces raid Free Funeral Service Society office in Yangon

Soldiers and police raided the office of the Free Funeral Service Society (FFSS) in Yangon’s North Okkalapa Township on Wednesday night, according to a senior staff member.

The staff member said security forces seized computers and phones from the office and destroyed property on the premises.

In a video live stream posted from the area by a North Okkalapa resident on Wednesday night following the incident, at least one FFSS staff member appeared to have suffered injuries to his head in the raid. 

“Our organization is not involved in any politics and we haven’t committed any crimes,” the senior staff member told Myanmar Now, adding that the FFSS exists to provide funeral services to help people grieve the loss of loved ones. 

“I can’t understand why they did this to us,” she said.

On Wednesday afternoon, soldiers and police carried out a violent crackdown on anti-coup protests in North Okkalapa. Using live gunfire, they killed at least seven people, including bystanders, according to confirmations from two area hospitals.

During the attack by security forces, emergency response teams from FFSS helped treat those who had been injured, according to photos posted by the organization on social media.

Security forces also assaulted three medics from the Mon Myat Seikhtar rescue team who had also been working in the township to treat those injured in the shootings.

CCTV footage that went viral on social media on Wednesday showed several police officers brutally beating the medics with batons and the butts of their shotguns. The police also shot at the windows of the rescue team’s ambulance.

Hla Kyaing, the chair of Mon Myat Seikhtar emergency rescue team, said that four members of his team, including the driver of their ambulance, went missing after the incident and, as of Thursday, were being detained at the notorious Insein Prison in Yangon.

He told Myanmar Now that he is trying to secure their release. 

According to an Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) report released on Wednesday, at least 50 people had been killed and 1,498 arrested nationwide since demonstrations began against the February 1 coup. 

Estimates for Wednesday’s death toll vary, and Myanmar Now has been unable to independently verify the total numbers across the country. 

The AAPP reported that at least 20 people were killed and around 800 arrested throughout Myanmar on March 3. 

Christine Schraner Burgener, the UN Special Envoy for Myanmar, said in a virtual press conference on Wednesday that 38 people had been killed on that day alone.