June 11 (Reuters) – An American official has died in Myanmar’s commercial capital of Yangon, according to the U.S. State Department, in an incident that two sources on Thursday said took place at a hotel last month.
“We can confirm the death of a U.S. government employee assigned to U.S. Embassy Rangoon,” a State Department spokesperson said, without providing additional details. Yangon was known as Rangoon during its colonial era.
“Out of respect for the privacy of the family and loved ones, we have no further information to provide at this time.”
The official was found at Yangon’s Sakura Residence & Hotel, which lies in one of the city’s main diplomatic hubs, according to two people familiar with the incident who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.
Hotel staff, reached via telephone, declined to comment and the local police station did not respond to requests for comment.
The Associated Press, which first reported the incident, said a Thai woman had been detained in connection with the death. Reuters could not immediately and independently verify the details.
“This is currently a matter of consular assistance and an ongoing police investigation being handled through the relevant official channels,” Thailand’s Foreign Ministry said, declining to comment further.
Myanmar has been in political and economic turmoil since the military seized power in a coup in February 2021, arresting Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and members of her government.
The takeover triggered widespread protests, sparking a civil war that has pitted the military against a coalition of pro-democracy armed resistance forces and long-established ethnic minority armies.
In early April, former junta chief Min Aung Hlaing was sworn in as the country’s president, following a widely criticised, military-engineered election that was conducted in the throes of conflict.
(Reporting by Simon Lewis in Washington D.C. and Reuters staff, Writing by Devjyot Ghoshal; Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus)
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