April 24, Asian Tribune
Escape of people of Burma through the tunnels of death - Ahmedur Rahman
Farooq
On April 10, 2008, fifty-four Burmese migrants suffocated to death in a
cold storage container while being smuggled to Thailand to escape
appalling conditions in Burma. The tragic deaths occurred in Ranong
Province on the west coast of Thailand when they were attempting to enter
Thailand illegally in a group of 121 migrants including fourteen children
being crammed into a sweltering container of 7 feet wide by 7 feet high
and 20 feet long. Among the victims, 36 were women and 17 men, all
apparently in their late teens or early 20s, and an eight-year-old child.
Sixty-seven migrants survived the ordeal. Twenty-one migrants were
hospitalized while the rest were detained by police for questioning.
