At least 55 people have been killed and dozens more injured after an explosion in a rebel-held village in Myanmar.
The blast, which occurred in Kaung Tat, a village in Shan State close to the Chinese border, is said to have been caused by the accidental explosion of material stored for mining, according to the insurgent army.
The Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) – who control the village and are engaged in a bitter conflict with Myanmar’s military junta – said there have been fatalities, but did not confirm how many.
Local sources say at least 55 people have died so far, including 25 women and 30 men, and that dozens more have been injured.
A first responder, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, suggested that the death toll is higher at 59, and said bodies had been collected by emergency personnel for cremation.
In a statement to Reuters, the TNLA said it ‘expresses its deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their lives, were injured, and suffered damage as a result of the explosion.’
The blast, which the TNLA said took place at approximately 12.00pm, destroyed various houses, with the injured transported to a local hospital.
Footage from the blast shows a smoke cloud hanging over the village and rubble bordering fallen buildings.
Myanmar, formerly Burma, has been the site of civil war since the military seized power in a 2021 coup, resulting in the armed forces fighting an array of pro-democracy guerrillas and powerful ethnic minority armed groups.
The TNLA is among the country’s most powerful ethnic minority factions opposed to the junta.
Many rebel groups in Myanmar rely on mining of precious minerals to fund their campaigns against the military, with lax safety measures making mine collapses and other accidents common.
The country’s borderlands are home to a myriad of ethnic minority armed groups, many of which have battled the military since independence from Britain in 1948 over autonomy and control of lucrative resources.
