Police in Yangon’s Insein township have opened an investigation after a homemade bomb filled with fuel and jagged metal was discovered at a local market yesterday, a police officer told Coconuts Yangon.
Ma Kaing Lin Wai, a tailor, found the bomb inside her store when she opened in the morning and immediately reported it to authorities. Shortly thereafter, a bomb specialist along with additional Myanmar police arrived at Insein Market and defused the bomb.
“It was reported at 8:20 in the morning. The bomb was found in the morning in Kaing Lin Wai, a women’s tailor shop, in Insein Market on the ground floor,” an officer with the Insein Police Station who spoke on condition of anonymity said. “The owner … found a bottle filled with diesel and small pieces of nails, connected by a wire to an outlet.”
Police suspect the homemade bomb was placed in the market after hours and that it could have exploded when the outlet was switched on.
“We have opened a case under article 4 of the Explosive Substances Act. If someone opened the switch and it exploded, there would have been injuries or worse. Even if no one was injured, there was a possibility of a fire,” the officer said.
This isn’t the first time there has been a bomb scare in Insein Township, though it’s been awhile.
In 2011, eight people were injured after a homemade bomb went off accidentally when the bomber placed a bag carrying the bomb on the ground while buying something at a street-side stall.
In 2013, an unexploded device was found in Insein township during a rash of bombings in several cities across Myanmar, including one that went off at the Traders Hotel (now the Shangri-La), injuring an American woman staying on the 9th floor.
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