This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7339939.stm

The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Burmese migrants choke in lorry Burma migrants suffocate in lorry
(30 minutes later)
More than 50 Burmese illegal migrants have suffocated in the back of a lorry taking them into southern Thailand, Thai police say.More than 50 Burmese illegal migrants have suffocated in the back of a lorry taking them into southern Thailand, Thai police say.
The 54 migrants were found dead inside the packed container lorry after another 47 managed to escape from the vehicle and flag down police. The 54 migrants were found dead inside the packed container lorry after dozens more managed to escape from the vehicle and flag down police.
A police officer quoted by Reuters said the migrants had choked after the air-conditioning system failed. Police said the migrants had suffocated after the air-conditioning failed.
"Many of them pounded the sides of the truck for help," he added. Thailand acts as a magnet for poor Burmese workers, with thousands risking the often perilous journey there.
Enticing wages
Police said that the Burmese workers had crossed to the Thai town of Ranong from Burma's southern tip at Victoria Point - a route often used by illegal immigrants.
They had been packed into an airtight lorry for the journey to the resort island of Phuket, Col Kraithong Chanthongbai said, but the ventilation failed.
"When police got to the scene, they found that 54 of the workers were already dead in the packed container truck," the Associated Press news agency quoted him as saying.
Twenty-one other workers were taken to hospital, he said. As many as 46 other workers did not require hospital treatment and were detained.
The driver of the lorry fled the scene.
There are thought to be up to two million Burmese workers in Thailand, half of whom are in the country illegally.
They fill low-paid, often dangerous jobs in sectors including textiles, construction and fisheries.
But these jobs offer the migrants salaries that far exceed what they could earn in military-ruled Burma.