Photo: Nyi Lynn Seck reproduced with permission
Three bomb blasts rocked former capital Yangon (Rangoon) during the Thingyan Myanmar New Year celebration this afternoon. According to official MRTV (Myanmar Radio and Television) announcement this evening, three bombs blasted in front of X20 water pandal near Kandawgyi Lake in downtown Yangon (Rangoon) at around 3.15 PM. Because of the bomb, 8 people (5 male and 3 female) died and injured 75 people(59 male and 16 female) were injured. According to unofficial rumours, the number of death is as high as 30, but this cannot be individually confirmed.
The photos of the bomb boast were posted on this blog post of Nyi Lynn Seck.
Face book's Burmese pages were immediately filled with news of the bomb blast as well as people's voices showing anger at the bombers. Myanmar Today also got this news a few hours before the official announcement from Face book and Twitter.
According to one witness account from a Myanmar blog, people were not aware of the bomb blast at first, thinking it was base sound from the loudspeaker. However, after a while, some people started to realize the truth and ran away, creating chaos and confusion. Some people were also injured by stampede during this chaotic scene.
Update: Official casualty figures now stand at 8 death and 170 injured. No suggestion of the organization/people behind the bomb blast from the official news media. Several countries, including US denounced the bomb blast.