Saturday was the first day of Myanmar's traditional New Year, and hundreds in commercial hub Yangon visited the famed Shwedagon Pagoda to pray as soldiers patrolled the streets.

Leading up to the Buddhist New Year, the Thingyan festivities were a sombre affair - a far cry from previous years when revellers would take to the streets for city-wide water fights.

Instead, activists sloshed crimson paint in Yangon to symbolise the bloodshed, while protesters wore red across the country in nationwide demonstrations.

More violence erupted Saturday in the central gem-producing city of Mogok, when security forces cracked down on protesters.

According to an AFP-verified video filmed by a resident, soldiers crouched on a street as their commanding officer shouted that he wanted "deaths".

A rescue worker told AFP at least one had died.

"He was shot in the stomach," he said, adding that six others injured had to be rushed to the hospital.

Despite the threat of violence, protesters have continued to gather across the country in defiance of the junta, carrying posters demanding for Suu Kyi to be freed.

Some demonstrations -- like in Yangon and central Monywa city -- also touted support of the so-called "National Unity Government", a shadow administration formed by ousted MPs working in hiding to thwart junta rule.

"It has been more than 70 days since the coup... we can no longer see our future and goals," said 19-year-old Max in Yangon.

"We have high hopes for a government that can compete with the military regime."

The country's jails are also releasing more than 23,000 prisoners nationwide, a prison official told AFP Saturday - part of its annual amnesty for Myanmar's New Year.

AFP