Diver injured in search for downed military plane dies

Yangon Commander Brigadier General Thet Pone visits one of the injured divers at the hospital. Photo: Facebook / Office of the Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services
Yangon Commander Brigadier General Thet Pone visits one of the injured divers at the hospital. Photo: Facebook / Office of the Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services

A diver who was injured while searching for the downed Y-8 military plane died last night, according to the Facebook page of the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services.

U Saw Naung was one of two divers who were injured by high water pressure while retrieving a section of the plane from the ocean off the Taninthayi coast. The Dala Township native was an employee of the Ana Wa Min diving service and had been commissioned to help the military search for the plane.

He and fellow diver U Thant Zin Oo were put in an intensive care unit at the military hospital in Yangon’s Mingaladon Township on June 19 after sustaining their injuries. U Thant Zin Oo is still receiving treatment at the hospital.

In its statement, the commander-in-chief’s office expressed condolences for the family of U Saw Naung.

So far, the bodies of 93 out a total of 124 people who were on board the plane have been recovered. The plane crashed shortly after takeoff during a flight from Myeik to Yangon.

The cause of the crash has not yet been determined, but the discovery of the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder on June 18, along with the tail of the plane, is expected to help the investigation.

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