Myanmar train crash fire kills 25 people, injures 62

YANGON - A train in Myanmar carrying petrol derailed and burst into flames, killing 25 people and injuring 62, most of them villagers trying to collect fuel spilled in the accident, state television said.

MRTV said the fire started after three cars loaded with petrol turned over near a village in Kanbalu township, near the Indian border, just over 500 km (300 miles) north of Yangon, Myanmar's biggest city.

Residents of Chekgyi village were gathered around the accident site trying to collect spilled petrol when they were trapped in the fire. Some 70 percent of Myanmar's 60 million people live on farms, where fuel is scarce.

An official from Myama Railway Department told Reuters the death toll might rise as some villagers were seriously injured.

Myanmar is among Asia's poorest countries.

Its quasi-civilian government has opened up the country since taking over in March 2011 from the military, which had ruled for nearly 50 years, and pushed through political and economic reforms, leading Western countries to relax sanctions.-ABS-CBN News (November 10, 2012 3:35PM)