Myanmar bodies 'were a warning'

Story Highlights
International aid worker describes the bloody crackdown in Myanmar

Woman saw bodies lying in the street in front of a pagoda dedicated to peace

Bodies may have been there as a warning, she said.

(CNN) -- An international aid worker who witnessed the bloody crackdown on weekend pro-democracy demonstrations in Myanmar told CNN she saw bodies lying in the street in front of a pagoda dedicated to world peace, possibly as a warning from the government's security forces.

"There was a body lying on the road, there was another body slumped over the back of the truck," said the woman, who did not want to be identified for security reasons.

"There were crowds gathered approximately 400 meters away but they were not coming closer to help out. And it just looked like (the bodies) had been left there for people to witness, for people to see what they were capable of."

She said the bodies were near Yangon's Kaba Aye pagoda, a gold-domed Buddhist shrine. Kaba Aye means world peace in Burmese.

Saturday's demonstration was a complete turnaround from demonstrations in previous days which were largely peaceful, she said.

She said "there were no military around" during protests she witnessed on Sept. 24.

Either way, the aid worker said the demonstrations are a cry for help by the Burmese, who she said "are not people who speak out."

"I think people need to appreciate the level of anger that the Burmese people would get to to even demonstrate," she said. "For a demonstration of the size of which went on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, it's quite remarkable.

"And then for the sort of cat-and-mouse skirmishes that went on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday -- these are people who just don't speak and they are speaking now."

She said the people she has spoken to are hoping the demonstrations spark international action, not just talk.

"They want to see force, they want to see people coming into their country to help them, peacekeepers," she said. "They're expecting the (United Nations), they're expecting action.

"They say this is their second time around and they need help this time," she said, referring to the bloody demonstrations in 1988 during which the army opened fire into masses of protesters, killing more than 3,000.