At least 40 people were killed and 80 others wounded while protesting against Myanmar’s military government after a motorised paraglider dropped two bombs on the crowd.
Hundreds had gathered in Chaung U township for a candlelight vigil during the Thadingyut full moon festival, a national holiday.
An official in the local People’s Defence Force told BBC Burmese that they had received information about a potential airborne attack on Monday.
But the paramotors reached the scene earlier than expected, he said.
“Children were completely torn apart,” another woman who had helped to organise the Buddhist event told AFP news agency.
She was not at the scene but attended funerals on Tuesday, and added that they were still “collecting body parts”.
“The committee alerted people and one-third of the crowd man managed to flee,” the woman said.
“But immediately, one motor-powered paraglider flew right over the crowd.”
Protesters fighting the military government had also called for the release of political prisoners including Aung San Suu Kyi, who was jailed after being deposed following a democratic election.
The United Nations estimates that up to 40 per cent of the population requires humanitarian assistance in the conflict-ridden region.
Joe Freeman, Amnesty International’s Myanmar researcher, said the “sickening” attack served as a “gruesome wake-up call”.
He added: “The international community may have forgotten about the conflict in Myanmar, but the Myanmar military is taking advantage of reduced scrutiny to carry out war crimes with impunity.
“It continues to kill civilians on a daily basis, using methods such as motorized paragliders, a disturbing trend that Amnesty International has documented in the same area that this attack occurred.”
