Buddhist Monk, Top Military Officials among 12 Killed in Myanmar Plane Crash

One of Myanmar’s most influential Buddhist monks and several military officers were among 12 killed when a military airplane crashed near the Anisakhan Airport in Mandalay Region’s Pyin Oo Lwin Township on Thursday.

Well-known monk Abhisheka Maha Rattha Guru Dr. Bhatanda Kavisara from the Zaygone Monastery in Naypyitaw and another monk died in the crash along with five military personnel—two lieutenant commanders, two captains and a sergeant—and five other civilian passengers who were donors to a monastery construction project, Irrawady.com reported.

A sergeant and a child who had accompanied one of the civilians survived the crash with injuries. They were being treated at a military hospital in Pyin Oo Lwin, it said quoting junta run-Myawady Television.

The plane crashed at around 8 a.m. while landing at Anisakhan Airport in Pyin Oo Lwin after a flight from Naypyitaw. The monks’ visit related to the construction of another Zaygone Monastery in Pyin Oo Lwin’s Kyaukphardoe Village.

Another report said that the incident took place in severe weather conditions.