The woman died when the bomb went off around 4am on Friday near the station in Pyinmana, a logging town just outside the capital, the Myanmar official said by telephone. The official could provide no other details on the blast.

Since moving the capital two years ago from the country's main city of Yangon to Naypyidaw, about 400 km to the north, a handful of small blasts have rattled the surrounding region, usually causing only minor damage.

The military has tried to establish a security cordon around the capital, which critics say has led to the forced removal of ethnic minority villagers from their homes and sparked clashes with ethnic Karen rebels. -- AFP