With record crowds present at Rangoon’s various martyrs’ monuments on Tuesday, volunteers administering emergency first aid at the sites said that dozens of people were treated after fainting and some were sent to hospital.

Over 169,000 visitors gathered at the Martyrs’ Mausoleum, the Secretariat building and the Bogyoke Aung San Museum on Tuesday to salute Burmese independence leader Gen Aung San and his eight colleagues, all of whom were assassinated 69 years ago on July 19.

Tun Tun Win from the Rangoon-based social outreach group Free Funeral Services Society said that the organization’s emergency rescue team—as well as four ambulances—were put on standby at the memorial sites during Tuesday’s events.

As thousands of people stood in line for hours in the rain before crowding to get inside the historical sites, some visitors fainted and suffered minor injuries, he explained. The team administered first aid to 36 such individuals. Four people, including three elderly visitors, were sent to Yangon General Hospital where they required further treatment.

Yet overall, he felt that the events went smoothly.

“Though there were big crowds, there were no major injuries or violence, as people were well-disciplined and followed instructions,” Tun Tun Win said, describing his organization’s participation in the first aid efforts as a “very meaningful” experience.

“It was really great to view [the proceedings] yesterday. All of country’s top leaders paid respect to fallen national heroes, including the army chief, which happened for the first time,” he added, referring to Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing’s attendance at the Martyrs’ Mausoleum commemoration ceremony; he was the first head of the Burma Army present the event since after the student-led uprisings of 1988.

Source:
courtesy of THE IRRAWADDY

by San Yamin Aung

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