Funerals to take place for slain activists in Myanmar amid curfew

After Myanmar saw one of the bloodiest days since the beginning of martial law, families of the deceased are planning to hold funerals on Tuesday after overnight candle-lit vigils in defiance of the curfew.

Candle-lit vigils were held in parts of Yangon and Mandalay and some other towns, according to reports and photographs on social media.

Funerals of dead protesters were set to take place on Tuesday in Yangon and elsewhere. Some families told media the security forces had seized the bodies of loved ones but they would still hold a funeral.

The Myanmar security forces clashed with anti-coup protesters and killed at least 20 people on Monday after 74 were killed a day earlier in Yangon.

As violence escalated overnight, a medical worker in the Dawbon area of Yangon said one person died and six were injured when security forces broke up a protest.

“We had to flee...because they threatened if we didn’t leave the body they would shoot us,” the medic, who declined to be identified, said referring to the person killed.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the killings and called on the international community to help end the repression.

Supporters of the detained elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi was defiant, showed resilience and no-sign of backing down in the face of growing violence in the country.  

A total of 183 people have been killed by security forces since the start of the coup on 1 February 2021. This number is expected to rise.