A woman from Tun Ra Wai village, Rathedaung Township, was hit by a stray bullet on the morning of 23 August and was rushed to Sittwe hospital for intensive care.

While villagers were running from homes during gunfire near the village, Daw Khin Win Chay, 25, was hit a stray bullet in her back, one of her family members said.

“We heard gunfire from the road. We saw a lot of soldiers on the road. They were shooting guns into the village. We were hiding in our house. Bullets hit some houses. So, I told my daughter-in-law to run from our house and hide behind the bank of the lake. She was hit a stray bullet in her back while she was running to the lake,” said Daw Pyar Ma Chay, mother-in-law of the injured villager.

The injured woman was sent to Sittwe hospital on 23 August, but she was transferred to Yangon hospital because the bullet entered her back-bone and caused problems in her nervous system; she is numb in her lower body, aid workers said.

Sayardaw U Tayza Bala, senior monk in Tun Ra Wai village, said that villagers fled from home due to gunfire near the village.

“I heard an explosion near the bridge. The Myanmar army reportedly shot into village following the explosion. Villagers fled from their homes. People ran to the monastery. She was hit while she was near the lake,” the senior monk said.

The DMG phoned Major General Tun Tun Nyi from the Tatmadaw True News Information Team on 23 August for comment about the case of injured villager, but he was indisposed because he was in a meeting.

The number of patient arrivals at Sittwe hospital to receive medical treatment for war related injuries from December last year up to now has been over 50, and six of them were transferred to Yangon hospital, according to the figures from relief aid groups.