54 Myanmar illegal immigrants die on container truck in Thai south
10/4/2008 16:34
Fifty-four illegal immigrants from Myanmar died inside one container truck
in Thailand's southern province of Ranong late last night, local media reported
this morning.
The victims included 17 men and 37 women, who died from
suffocation, The Nation TV news channel reported this morning. Another 21
passengers were seriously injured.
Local police said they received reports
last night about a suspicious vehicle parking on roadside in Suksamran district,
Ranong, the southern coastal province bordering Myanmar.
The police arrived
at the site and rescued the survivors. They sent the injured to a local hospital
and detained the 44 uninjured passengers for questioning.
The dead were
placed at a local charity institution, waiting for families to claim the
bodies.
According to initial investigation, the container truck, heading to
Phuket province in southern Thailand, was carrying more than 119 Myanmar
nationals. The survivors told the police they had been smuggled into Thailand by
Thai traffickers from Victoria Point in Myanmar on a fishing boat last night,
before being packed into this container truck heading to Phuket, the popular
resort island of Phuket where they hoped they could find a job.
When the
immigrants found some of their fellows suffering from breathing difficulty and
faintness because of the high heat and poor ventilation inside the container
after two hours' trip, they beat loudly at the walls to alert the driver, who
did not notice at first.
The driver finally stopped the truck and checked.
When he found that many passengers died, he ditched the truck and fled, police
said.
A local villager who found the truck alerted police at about 10 p.m.
(1500GMT) yesterday.
Police blamed the driver for failing to turn on the air
conditioning inside the container, causing the suffocation.
An arrest warrant
has been issued nationwide to hunt the suspect driver and police also launched
an investigation into the human trafficker gang behind the smuggling
case.
Xinhua
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