‘We have to win’: Myanmar protesters persevere as forces ramp up violence

Violent scenes play out across country as police crack down against peaceful protesters

Ye Swan Htet, 23, had joined a sit-down protest on a bridge in west Yangon when he saw police approaching. Officers were carrying guns, he remembered, but he didn't expect them to actually shoot. The protest was peaceful; crowds were singing and clapping.

Then, gun fire rang out all around him. Bricks burst open and a branch snapped from a tree. There was a guy who got hit in his thigh by a rubber bullet, so I carried him to an ambulance," he said.