A volunteer relief worker who was shot when a Myanmar Red Cross convoy came under fire in the Kokang region last month succumbed to his injuries at Mandalay General Hospital on Friday afternoon.
Moe Kyaw Than, 45, a member of the Myanmar Red Cross Society in Kunlong, had been in hospital since he was shot in the stomach in the incident that took place more than one month ago.
Kunlong Health Department Director Dr Thein Myot told DVB that Moe Kyaw Than passed away around noon on 27 March.
“We painstakingly did our best for one month and 10 days to save his life,” the head physician said. “We transferred him from Lashio to Mandalay hospital where he spent his last 20 days.”
A Myanmar Red Cross convoy including journalists, evacuating refugees from the Kokang region’s Laogai, came under fire by unknown assailants near the town of Chinshwehaw on 17 February. Two Red Cross members, Moe Kyaw Than and Zaw Min Htike, were injured.
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The Burmese government has accused Kokang rebels of carrying out the attacks, however the rebels deny the charge and insist that government forces were the only units in that area on the date when the attack occurred.
Moe Kyaw Than is survived by his wife and four children. His body is to be taken to Kunlong for funeral rites.
