Bomb Blast at Myanmar Hotel Injures One American

Police in the Southeast Asian nation had earlier urged caution after several small bombs exploded in and around Myanmar’s largest city in recent days, killing two people.

Courtesy: Burma Times

(YANGON, MYANMAR Myanmar Times) - Police in Myanmar say there was an explosion at one of the largest hotels in the main city Yangon and one American was wounded.

It was not immediately clear what caused the blast just around midnight at the Trader’s Hotel on Tuesday in Yangon, or whether it was an accident.

A police officer on the scene who declined to be named says an American woman was slightly injured and taken to a Yangon hospital.

A U.S. Embassy official confirmed an American was injured.

Police in the Southeast Asian nation had earlier urged caution after several small bombs exploded in and around Myanmar’s largest city in recent days, killing two people.

Police urged vigilance after several small bombs exploded in and around Myanmar’s largest city in recent days, reportedly killing two people and injuring three others.

No one claimed responsibility for the blasts and it was not immediately clear if they were related.

Small explosions occurred frequently when Myanmar was under 50 years of military rule, most often blamed on anti-government student activists or armed ethnic groups. But such incidents have become rare in recent years.

The explosions occurred as the country prepares to host the Southeast Asian Games in December.

The first bomb reportedly went off Friday at a guesthouse in Taungoo, a town 125 miles from the country’s largest city, Yangon, according to the Democratic Voice of Burma newspaper.

It said two people were killed, but those casualties could not immediately be confirmed.

On Sunday, two other homemade bombs went off, one at a bus stop and another attached to the bottom of a truck, both on different sides of Yangon, according to a statement posted on Myanmar’s police Facebook page. It said three people were injured.

Police called on the public to be vigilant and report any suspicious packages found at bus or train stations, or at the seaport.

http://burmatimes.net/bomb-blast-at-myanmar-hotel-injures-one-american/