Two Bombs Explode in Rangoon—No Casualties

Two bombs exploded in crowded areas of Rangoon on Tuesday evening, but no casualties were reported.

The first explosion occurred around 9:30 p.m. at Padonma Park in Sanchaung Township. The second came about an hour later at a bus stop in Hledan, Kamayut Township, according to eyewitnesses.

The blast areas were rapidly sealed off by police and troops, who also closed off Padonma Park and searched for other possible explosives.

Padonma Park and the site of the second blast, opposite the Anawrahta building near the Hledan junction on the Rangoon-Insein road, are crowded with shopping centers, markets and restaurants.

State-run newspapers failed to report on the blasts in their Wednesday issues.

The bomb attacks were the first to occur in Rangoon this year. Two bombs exploded in Pegu Division in February, but they caused no casualties.

Last year, at least seven bomb attacks occurred in Burma.

A bomb exploded at a ticket booth at Rangoon’s main railway station in January 2008, injuring two women.

Three months later, two bombs exploded in downtown Rangoon, with no casualties.

In July 2008, a Rangoon office of the pro-junta Union Solidarity and Development Association was the target of a bomb attack.

In September, a bomb exploded at the Tamwe Township police station and another near Rangoon’s city hall. Police found another explosive device nearby.

The deadliest blast of 2008 came on October 13, when seven people in a passenger-carrying truck were killed when the vehicle’s compressed natural gas cylinder reportedly exploded.

Later in October, two bombs exploded in separate attacks in Rangoon, killing one man.