Myanmar military concludes Myitgyina incident as "misfire"

Myanmar military authorities have concluded that the death of an ethnic Kachin resident on Monday night was caused by a "misfire" from a soldier's gun, according to an announcement of the Defense Ministry published Wednesday.

According to the announcement, two soldiers deployed to the Bala Minthin Bridge in Myitgyina in the northernmost Kachin state were escorting four civilians who asked them for help as they were being threatened by a group of eight men attempting to rob their motorbikes.

When the soldiers returned to the bridge, the eight-man group fought the two soldiers, attempting to grab the gun of a soldier who then misfired his gun, killing a young man among the group. The others escaped, a Myitgyina police official told Xinhua.

The two soldiers also sustained injury during the fighting, the official added. Enditem