Three persons were killed and five were wounded after being shot by Thailand's security forces in the southern part of the country. All the victims were identified as Burmese who were trying to enter Thailand illegally. Two of the dead were children aged two and four, according to Burmese workers living in the area.

The killings occurred when the security forces tried to stop a car carrying 15 Burmese persons at a checkpoint in Ranong Province in Thailand.

“The car driver did not obey the order of the security guards at the checkpoint,” said a Burmese man living in Ranong. “First the security guards shot at the car's wheels. But the bullets also hit the body of the car and the children inside were killed.”

The five wounded are now hospitalized in Ranong while the driver of the car, who is a Thai national, and the seven survivors were taken into custody at a Ranong police station.

A policeman at the Ranong police station confirmed to The Irrawaddy that seven Burmese were being detained at the station. “The army arrested these people, but we don't know any more details of this case,” he said.

According to Burmese migrants in the area, most of the Burmese involved in the incident came from Mon State. They allegedly arrived in Ranong Province through Kawthaung, the southernmost town in Burma.

In January, nine Burmese people were found shot dead in Phop Phra district in Thailand. The victims were identified as illegal Burmese migrants and a Thailand police officer found to be involved in the killings later committed suicide, according a Provincial Police Bureau chief in Thailand.