By KEVIN ADJEI-DARKO, SENIOR FOREIGN NEWS REPORTER Published: 07:17 BST, 8 October 2025 | Updated: 11:29 BST, 8 October 2025
At least forty people have died after a paraglider dropped bombs on a festival in Myanmar. Hundreds of people were gathered in the Chaung U township for the Thadingyut full moon festival on Monday evening when the military dropped bombs on the crowd, according to a member of the committee that organised the event. The woman, who requested anonymity for security reasons, said people were gathering for the festival and an anti-junta demonstration at around 7:00 pm when the bombs killed more than 40 people and wounded about 80 others.'The committee alerted people and one-third of the crowd managed to flee,' she told AFP. 'But immediately, one motor-powered paraglider flew right over the crowd', dropping two bombs on the centre of the gathering.'Children were completely torn apart,' said the woman, who was not at the scene but attended funerals on Tuesday. When another motorised paraglider flying overhead left the area, she said people rushed to help the wounded.'As of this morning, we were still collecting body parts from the ground - pieces of flesh, limbs, parts of bodies that were blown apart,' she added.A resident of Chaung U who attended the event on Monday confirmed the estimated toll, saying people attempted to run when they realised the paramotor was flying overhead.'While I was saying to people "please don't run", the paramotor dropped two bombs,' he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.An airstrike by the military on a village in January. On Monday, another airstrike launched by the army killed at least 40 people during a festival
