One killed, 9 hurt in Yangon blast

A bomb blast killed one person and injured nine others in a busy district of central Yangon yesterday, a Myanmar police source told AFP.

The blast occurred around 3:20 pm local time (0850 GMT) near a bus stop," the police source said, requesting anonymity. "One man died in hospital and nine others are injured."

A bomb squad team was working to determine if the blast came from a grenade or mine, the police source said.

Pictures published by local media showed several bodies lying on the ground in the bustling Downtown district and what appeared to be blood on the pavement. Security forces later found an unexploded grenade near the site of the blast, the police source said.

No group has claimed responsibility.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military coup that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi's civilian government, with fighting flaring in ethnic rebel border areas and the economy in chaos.

Self-declared civilian "people's defence forces" have also sprung up to fight the junta and dissidents have targeted officials or organisations perceived to be working with the military.

Across the country, there are almost daily killings of low-level junta officials or alleged informers, with details murky and reprisals from the military often following quickly.