Six people have been killed and 12 injured when a time bomb exploded in Myanmar's restive Karen state on Wednesday night, an official told AFP Thursday. He said the bomb was detonated at 9pm (1430 GMT) on Wednesday as the ethnic Karen celebrated their New Year in the south-eastern state bordering Thailand.
"Altogether six people were killed and another 12 were injured when a timed-bomb exploded," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. "One injured person is in a critical condition. It happened as they celebrated their New Year's Day party," he said.
The bomb exploded in Phapun town in north-eastern Karen State, about 120 miles (192 kilometres) from the economic hub, Yangon, he said. Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported that the bomb went off in the middle of market stalls where a new year festival was being held.