Abandoned mortar shell kills boy near Bangladesh-Myanmar border
A 12-year-old boy was killed Tuesday afternoon when a discarded mortar shell exploded near the Bangladesh-Myanmar border in the Ghumdhum union of Bandarban’s Naikhongchhari upazila. The victim, identified as Satanaing Tanchangya, was killed while playing with the explosive device in the Baishfari area, located approximately 100 yards inside the Bangladesh border near pillar number nine.
According to local accounts and police reports, the boy had accompanied his parents to their farm to assist in the construction of a shelter. While working on the land, Satanaing discovered the unexploded ordnance. The device detonated while he was handling it, causing fatal injuries that left his body severely mutilated. Local residents recovered the remains, and police later transported the body to the Baishfari investigation center.
The victim’s family, led by his father Kinghla Tanchangya, originally hailed from Medai village in Myanmar’s Maungdaw township. They had fled across the border to Bangladesh five to six years ago to escape regional violence, eventually settling in the Baishfari neighborhood of Ghumdhum.
Naikhongchhari Police Station officer-in-charge Mozammel Haque confirmed that the body has been recovered and will undergo an autopsy as part of standard legal procedures.
The incident underscores the persistent dangers posed by conflict-related debris and landmines along the border region. On May 24, a landmine explosion in the nearby Bhalkiya area claimed the lives of three Bangladeshi farmers. Local residents report that two other individuals from the Bhalkiyapara area remain missing after disappearing while working in their gardens near the border, highlighting growing concerns over safety in the volatile frontier zone.
