Landslide victims killed in Hakha explosion
24 November 2015 — Five of the six persons killed by a powerful explosion in Hakha, Chin State on Sunday were members of a family displaced in July this year by heavy landslides.
The family had, since August, rented the ground floor of the two-storey house where the explosion took place around 10:35pm.
They were identified as Neng Cin, 70, Far Pen, 64, Biak Cer Chin, 35, Sui Men Thluai, 20, and Zing Hnem Sung, 6, with the sixth victim known as Thong Thluai, 50, who was visiting the family.
The blast, believed to be caused by high explosives, levelled the house to the ground and ripped through other houses in the neighbourhood.
Heng Cin, a neighbour whose house was also wrecked, said: “We were still awake when it happened. The noise was extremely loud and our house was shaken terribly. The roof of our house was blown away, our windows and doors were torn apart. It felt like we had an earthquake.”
Pa Thawng, who arrived on the scene minutes after the explosion and early in the next morning, said that parts of two female bodies, including Thluai’s, had been found meters away from the house.
Four females including an eight-year old girl and three males were injured and immediately taken to the Hakha General Hospital.
According to hospital staff members, two of the injured are still in serious conditions.
Meanwhile, Hakha police have put Jonathan and wife Hniang Hlei Sung, owners of the two-storey house, into custody when they arrived in the capital from Kalay, Sagaing Region yesterday. The couple were travelling when the incident took place.
The explosion also destroyed a parked minibus, a jeep and two motorbikes – all of which belongs to the house-owners.
No detailed information is known as to how the explosion happened and who was responsible.#
