More than 150 people turned out for the funeral on Tuesday of a young volunteer killed on his way back from relief work in flood-hit areas.
Naing Htoo Aung, also known as Ko Tharpo, died in Bago Region on August 16 when the car he was in rolled after a tyre burst. Two others survived.
The 30-year-old had returned from Singapore, where he worked as an engineer, to assist the Online Volunteers of Disaster Recovery for Myanmar.
“When he got back to Yangon, he didn’t even come to his family home – he went directly to the disaster area to help people,” a relative told the Myanmar Times.
“As soon as we heard about the accident we went to the hospital but he was already gone.”
Public figures like writer Atakyaw and Ko Zin Min Tun, a civil society activist, turned out for his funeral, at Ye Way cemetery in Yangon.
Also in attendance were fellow flood volunteers, including many who had only heard about Naing Htoo Aung through his social media presence.
I never met him but was so sad when I heard this news on Facebook,” said Ma Thu Zar. “I attend his funeral to show my respects. I am a volunteer like him but I cannot work the way he did … His death was a loss for our country, I think.”
