Two women were reportedly trampled to death, and one was injured while waiting in a queue at the passport office at the corner of 66thx12th streets in Aungmyaytharzan Township, Mandalay.
Those died of suffocation due to the stampede of crowds waiting in line at the passport office at 2:30 in the morning of February 19, according to an official of the Palace Social Assistance Association.
“Two women trampled to death, and one had a broken tooth, and a bone injury in her leg. There was a big ditch near the passport office, and when she fell into the ditch, she died of suffocation because of the crowd,” he explained.
The Mandalay Passport Office used the online booking system until the end of 2023 to issue passports, but this year, 2024, they ask passport applicants to queue up for application and issue passports on a first-come, first-served basis.
Currently, the passport office is accepting about 250 applications per day, but the number of people queuing up is up to tens of thousands, and there are also passport brokers who sell a seat in the queue.
“There are a lot of people, up to tens of thousands, in front of the passport office and it’s crowded. Some of them spend the night in nearby monasteries and wait in a queue for passport applications. Additionally, brokers also first get a seat in the queue in front, and they sell passport applicants back for about 150,000 kyats” said a resident of Mandalay.
On February 10, the junta enforced the conscription law that people aged 18 are forced into mandatory military service. After that, people are planning to leave for foreign countries because they are growing concerns and do not want to serve in the military.