Video by Oh Jung-meen, Cho You-bin
Police and protesters clashed in Myanmar on Tuesday in the most violent day of demonstrations against a military coup that overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi, and a doctor said one woman was unlikely to survive a gunshot wound to the head.
The incidents marked the first bloodshed since the military, led by army chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, overthrew Suu Kyi's newly elected government on Feb. 1 and detained her and other politicians from her National League for Democracy (NLD).
Footage posted on social media of the woman who was shot showed her with other protesters by what appeared to be a bus-stop shelter some distance from a row of riot police as a water cannon sprayed and several shots could be heard.
The woman, wearing a motorbike helmet, suddenly collapsed. Pictures of her helmet showed what appeared to be a bullet hole.
A doctor in the Naypyitaw hospital said the shot woman had suffered what was most likely to be a fatal head wound. "She hasn't passed away yet, she's in the emergency unit, but it's 100% certain the injury is fatal," said the doctor, who declined to be identified. "According to the X-ray, it's a live bullet."
A man had a chest wound but was not in critical condition. It was not clear if he was hit with a bullet or rubber bullet.
"The use of disproportionate force against demonstrators is unacceptable," Ola Almgren, the UN representative in Myanmar, said.
This Friday, the UN Human Rights Council will convene a special session to discuss the crisis. (Reuters)
