Passenger plane sustains gunfire on approach to Loikaw Airport

By DMG 30 Sep 2022

DMG Newsroom
30 September 2022, Loikaw

Two passengers were reportedly injured after a commercial passenger plane was shot at while landing at an airport in Loikaw, Kayah State, on September 30.

The Myanmar National Airlines plane, flying from the capital Naypyidaw, came under fire at a height of around 1,000 metres some six kilometres north of Loikaw Airport on Friday morning, said an unnamed airport official.

“A bullet passed through the fuselage of the Myanmar National Airlines plane as it made its descent carrying 63 people into Loikaw, the capital of Kayah State,” the unnamed official added.

Two people were hit and injured by bullets in the incident, and were transferred to Loikaw Hospital, according to local social organisations.

The injured are reportedly residents of Loikaw and one of them is in critical condition, said a local in Loikaw.

“One of them residing in Acre-500 Ward sustained a bullet wound to his cheek. Another man received bullet wounds to his thigh and legs and his condition is considered life-threatening,” the local said.

It is currently unknown which organisation is responsible for the shooting of the passenger plane. DMG continues to attempt to contact Major-General Zaw Min Tun, spokesman for the regime, regarding the incident.

Yangon-Loikaw and Naypyidaw-Loikaw-Yangon flights were suspended in March 2021 due to regional instability and the spread of Covid-19, but have resumed operations since May of this year, according to airline ticket operators.