Ottu villagers have been moving to remote areas of the village since around 12 noon on April 20, carrying their own luggage.

Residents of nearly 700 villages are moving to nearby shelters, leaving only a handful of people in the village. "People in the village are not sitting in the house. 

    We have to go outside and see when they will enter the village. We have to ask them if they have even come in and get ready to run," a woman from Ottu told the BBC. 

    The villagers are fleeing the area on the morning of April 20, fearing that the fighting between the military council and the local defense forces on the Myeik-Dawei road could escalate into Uttu village. 

This is the first evacuation for Ottu village in Thayet Chaung Township, a short drive from the Myeik-Dawei highway, Tanintharyi Division.