The local residents of Man Jal Village of Mong See Village Group under Tamoenye Sub-township were searching for mushrooms in the forest when one of them stepped on the landmine.

A woman who is assisting the injured people at the hospital said the incident took place at around 5 pm on July 23.

“It happened while they were searching for mushrooms in the forest. A group of five people went to search for mushrooms and three people went ahead. The deceased woman said she didn’t see the tripwire from the stake mine. She was injured on both legs after she touched the tripwire,” she said.

The woman who stepped on the landmine died before she reached the village, she continued.

“Two people are in the hospital after they were wounded with shrapnel. The remaining two people went to the nearest Kawng Lein Village to get assistance from the villagers. They came to carry three people [who were injured from the mine blast],” she said.

The injured patients have been identified as U La Doi and Daw La Htaw Seng Mai and the deceased woman has been identified as Daw La Shi Kaw Nan. She was the wife of U La Doi.

The patients are currently receiving medical treatment at the Lashio General Hospital and both of them will undergo operations for their injuries.

“The injuries are serious. A shrapnel entered the area above U La Doi’s ankle so two bones have been broken. After taking out the shrapnel, the two broken bones have to be replaced with steel. Another person is a woman. She said shrapnel went inside her right thigh. She said it must be taken out in an operation,” said the woman.

Based on statistics released by the Myanmar Red Cross Society, the Shan State government has previously stated that 604 people have been injured and 95 people have been killed by landmines in Myanmar from 2014 to April 2018 and the Kachin and Shan states have the highest number of landmine casualties.