1 dead, 4 hurt in anti-Muslim violence in Myanmar

LASHIO, Myanmar (AP) — Hundreds of Buddhist men on motorcycles, screaming and waving iron rods and sticks, roamed the streets. A crowd threw rocks at buildings. A movie theater reportedly burned.

This town in northeastern Myanmar near the Chinese border is the latest region to fall prey to the country's spreading violence and intimidation targeting minority Muslims. At least one person died and four others were injured, state television said today.

A mosque, a Muslim school and other buildings have now burned in two days of rioting. Many Muslims stayed locked inside their homes and shops remained shuttered.

"I never expected that such racial violence would erupt in Lashio," local politician Sai Myint Maung said. "Our small town is multiethnic and we have lived in peace for a long time."