25 die in tanker train derailment

Twenty-five people were killed in northern Burma when a derailed tanker train burst into flames as they were trying to skim fuel from its overturned carriages, state television reported last night.

The report said 62 other people were injured yesterday morning after the train hauling seven carriages of petrol and two of diesel derailed near Kantbalu about 500 miles north of Rangoon.

The cause of the accident was not given. The report said the injured were being treated at two nearby hospitals.

A witness, Myint Kyi, said the dead included 16 men.