Two people died in Burma on Monday in a stampede outside a passport office stormed by applicants seeking to leave the country to avoid military service imposed by the junta, a rescuer said.
The incident occurred in Mandalay, the country's second largest city. Hundreds of people fought to recover a valuable token that would allow them to apply for a passport, killing two women aged 52 and 39 in the process, this rescuer who was at the scene told AFP.
“There was a ditch near the crowd. “People fell into the ditch and the two women died from lack of oxygen,” the rescuer, who spoke on condition of anonymity for safety reasons, told AFP.
Another woman was slightly injured.
The three women sold tokens and assigned numbers to them in line.
Local media also reported on the deaths.
The junta on February 10 ordered the implementation of a 2010 law requiring all men aged 18 to 35 and women aged 18 to 27 to complete at least two years of military service.
The move followed a series of setbacks for the generals, who have ruled since the 2021 coup and are facing challenges from his ethnic and political opponents in several regions.
Military authorities have not yet detailed their plan, but the uncertainty has prompted many young people to take the lead.
Last week, local media showed hundreds of people queuing outside Mandalay's passport office.
In Yangon, the economic capital, thousands of young men and women lined up outside the Thai embassy last week hoping to get a visa to leave the country.
Nearly 13 million people are eligible for conscription, the junta spokesman said, even though the army only has the means to train 50,000 people a year.
The junta has already said it is taking steps to arm pro-military militias fighting opponents across the country, including the anti-coup People's Defense Forces (PDF) militias or older ethnic minority armed groups.