Two staff members of the charity ‘Save the Children’ are missing after an attack, blamed on the Myanmar military, left more than 30 people dead on Friday.

The United Kingdom-based foundation said in a statement that two of its workers who were travelling home for the holidays after conducting humanitarian response work were ‘caught up in the incident’. Their private vehicle was attacked and burned out after the massacre in which the army allegedly ‘forced people out of their cars, killing over 30 and burning their bodies’,” the statement added.

Inger Ashing, Chief Executive of Save the Children, has said that the group condemns the attack as a “breach of International Humanitarian Law”, adding, “We are horrified at the violence carried out against innocent civilians and our staff, who are dedicated humanitarians, supporting millions of children in need across Myanmar. Investigations into the nature of the incident are continuing but attacks against aid workers cannot be tolerated.”

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According to reports and witnesses, the Myanmar military is believed to have rounded up and shot villagers, including women and children, and then burnt their bodies in eastern Mo So village outside Hpruso township in Kayah state. Images from the scene showing the charred bodies and vehicles were all over social media soon after, even though the accounts have not been independently verified. 

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While the government has not yet commented on the incident, the state-run newspaper ‘Myanna Alinn’ carried a report on Friday saying that the fighting broke out when members of ethnic guerrilla forces (Karenni National Progressive Party) and others drove in ‘suspicious’ vehicles, refused to stop, and then attacked the security forces, according to a report by The Associated Press.

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Myanmar has been in acute unrest and turmoil ever since the military seized control and detained ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and members of her National League for Democracy (NLD). Several people have been killed over the last few months.

Myanmar’s National Unity Government (NUG) has called the attack a “Christmas massacre”, adding, “As the world celebrates Christmas and its message of peace, the NUG repeats its demands on the international community to act immediately and decisively to end the military junta’s escalating war crimes and crimes against humanity against the Myanmar people,” the NUG statement added, according to a CNN report.