More aftershock deaths reported

Environment

More aftershock deaths reported

Reporter: King Cobra

A total of 13 earthquake deaths were reported by visitors and refugees from southern Shan State. that have arrived on the border recently.

The deaths took place in Namzang, 62 miles east of Taunggyi on 26 December, the day Southeast Asia was devastated by the Tsunami. The 6.4 Richter scale aftershock at 08;00 (Rangoon Standard time) that centered in the township had caused buildings to collapse killing people that were trapped inside the rubble.

Two of them were Pa Mon, 61, female, and her grandson, Sai Htoon Aung, 7, reported earlier by S.H.A.N. on 4 January, Tsunami quake kills two in Shan State.

11 others were shopkeepers and customers in the business area of the town. Their names, however, are not available.

A day later, Captain Zaw Win Naing, Commander of Company 3, Infantry Battalion 66, came to warn the townspeople "to keep quiet" about the deaths. "We will ask the government for compensation of your losses," he was quoted as saying, "but if there is any disclosure of the event outside, the blame will be on you."

"I don't understand why they are trying to cover up the deaths as though it were they who had killed them," said a woman trader from the township. "It was like when they massacred hundreds of people 7-8 years ago."

According to Thai-based Shan Human Rights Foundation, a total of 664 people were slaughtered by the Burma Army, 159 alone in Namzang, during the 1996-98 forced relocations in southern Shan State.

The 108 Buddha Pagoda, built by the Army near the Namzang airfield, was also damaged. "We need contributions from you to renovate it," military officers told the townspeople.

According to reliable sources, the aftershocks still continue in Namzang albeit at low intensities:

8 January - 2 times (20:30, 23:45)
9 January - 5 times (02:20, 05:15, 12:50, 12:52, 13:36)
10 January - 3 times (00:10, 00:40, 01:30)

The quakes were also felt in surrounding townships, especially Loilem, Kunhing, Mongnai, Langkher, Mawkmai and Mongpan.