The government says 10 people died and about 80 were injured by three bombs during waterfest. But the wooden dance stage wasn't damaged. The Emerys sent me an article from The Irawaddy magazine saying three journalists were arrested for taking photos of the bomb site, but the magazine also said it didn't actually know what three people were arrested for there, only that there was a rumour it was because they were photo journalists, which it also didn't say if they were actually known to be. I couldn't even find the bomb site, and there certainly wasn't any police barrier around any site that might be under investigation.
The newspaper didn't say who the people killed were, except that they were security forces, and that the bombing was aimed at a general's grandson, but I don't know if he was there. They said it was done by insurgent terrorists, though it didn't name the insurgent group or offer any suggestions on which one. The party seemed just as raucous before the bomb as after.
International media, such as the BBC, did offer suggestions, one of which was the Karen National Army. However, every international news story I saw used only the official government statements about the bombs, and didn't seem to have anything else to say except that the businesses around the lake are owned by SPDC supporters, whatever that means.
Me, I saw two ambulances go down our street that afternoon, and that's all. I walked around the entire lake looking for the bomb site and couldn't find a single pandal that looked any different from the others, much less a barrier or cop gaurding over what was supposed to be an investigation site.
