MYANMAR (YANGON) – In the bloodiest day of demonstrations in Myanmar, police opened fire on protesters on Sunday leaving at least five dead wounding scores as agitations continue against the coup.
After police broke up a teachers’ protest with stun grenades in Yangon, a woman died of a suspected heart attack.
“Myanmar is like a battlefield,” said the first cardinal of the Buddhist-majority country Charles Maung Bo on Twitter.
After stun grenades, tear gas and shots in the air failed to disperse agitators, police opened fire in different areas of Yangon. Soldiers also came to the aid of police.
Wounded protesters were hauled away by compatriots and blood could be seen on the pavements.
One man succumbed to a bullet injury in the chest, said a doctor.
Protesters were also fired at in Dawei in the south, killing three and wounding several, said politician Kyaw Min Htike.
In Mandalay, one protester was killed and there were two dead in the central town of Bago.
The brutal crackdown indicates the determination of the junta to impose its authority in the face of widespread protests, which have spread to the civil service, municipal administration, the judiciary, the education and health sectors and the media.
“The Myanmar security forces’ clear escalation in use of lethal force in multiple towns and cities … is outrageous and unacceptable,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
In Yangon, hundreds of protests refused to leave the streets. Many set up barricades while others chanted slogans and songs of protest.
“If they attack us, we’ll defend. We’ll never kneel down to the military boots,” said Nyan Win Shein, a protester in Yangon.
Doctors and students of a Yangon medical school were sent scampering for safety when police hurled stun grenades outside the campus. The Whitecoat Alliance of medics said more than 50 medical staff had been arrested.
According to state-run MRTV television channel, more than 470 people had been arrested on Saturday. The number of people arrested on Sunday remains unclear.