Myanmar nun kneels between police and protesters, pleading for peace shortly before killings resume
A nun has knelt in front of policemen in Myanmar and pleaded with them to stop shooting protesters demonstrating against last month's military coup.
Key points:
The nun asked police to treat protesters "like family members"
At least two protesters were fatally shot and many others injured soon after the nun's plea
Sister Tawng was later blinded by tear gas as she attempted to move the injured to her clinic
Video showed Sister Ann Rose Nu Tawng in a white robe and black habit kneeling on a street in the northern town of Myitkyina, speaking to two policemen who knelt with her.
Ultimately, however, she did not succeed.
Sister Tawng and one of the policemen are seen touching their foreheads to the ground, but gunfire started soon afterwards.
"I begged them not to hurt the protesters, but to treat them kindly like family members," she said.
"I am not standing up until they give their promise that they will not brutally crack down on protesters."
Sister Tawng, who runs a clinic in the town, said she had received assurances from senior officers that they were just clearing the road.
"We heard loud gunshots, and saw that a young kid's head had exploded, and there was a river of blood on the street," Sister Tawng said.
From winning a landslide election to being detained
At least two protesters were killed and several others injured, she and other witnesses said.
A military spokesman and police in Myitkyina did not respond to requests for comment.
Sister Tawng tried to bring some of the victims to the clinic before she was blinded by tear gas.
"Our clinic floor became a sea of blood," she said. "We need to value life. It made me feel so sad."
The nun had also come between protesters and police lines late last month, pleading for peace, local media reported.
Over 60 people have been killed and more than 1,800 detained in the crackdown on protests against the February military coup.
Reuters
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