Myanmar Consul General dies in road mishap in Jharkhand

Jitendra K Shrivastava

Tribune News Service

Ranchi/Kolkata, October 27

Myanmar Consul General Pyi Soe was killed and three others, including his wife, were injured after the car they were travelling in rammed into a stationary lorry in Jharkhand’s Giridih district on Friday.

Soe was appointed Consul General in Kolkata in December 2016. He was reportedly returning to Kolkata from Bodh Gaya when the accident took place. 

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The vehicle rammed into the lorry as the driver reportedly was trying to save a motorcyclist.

The injured—Soe’s wife, Neo Aau, his personal assistant, Tetu Aau, and the driver—were admitted to Meena Hospital at Dumri of Giridih.

Jadavpur University’s Department of International Affairs when told about Consul General Pyi Soe’s death, said: “Lahiri had organised a seminar on Indo-Myanmar relations where Pyi Soe’s predecessor U Kyaw Swe Tint was the main speaker. Public interaction between Myanmar’s Kolkata-based diplomats and local academicians was first kicked off from that seminar."

Swapna Bhattacharya, professor at the Calcutta University’s Department of South and South Eastern Studies, described Pyi Soe’s death as “very shocking news”.

Bhattacharya, known as “Myanmar expert” locally, said she knew Soe but failed to give any personal detail about the diplomat.

Besides the consul-general, the consulate in Kolkata also has one consul and two chiefs of chancery. The officials have all rushed to Jharkhand where the fatal car crash earlier today had taken consul-general Pyi Soe’s life. With inputs from Shubhadeep Choudhury