DHAKA: About 30 people were feared drowned after an overcrowded bus plunged into a deep river in southern Bangladesh yesterday, police said. The accident occurred as the bus was about to be driven onto a ferry in the district of Barisal. “We’ve found eight people who managed to swim to the bank from the submerged bus. They said the 32-seater bus was overcrowded and carrying more than 40 people. About 30 people are still unaccounted for,” local police chief Nurul Islam said. Divers were trying to recover the victims from the river, he added. Road accidents are common in Bangladesh and kill thousands of people each year, with badly maintained vehicles and rash driving blamed for many deaths. In February, a bus carrying pilgrims to the beach resort town of Cox’s Bazaar plunged into a dry river bed, killing 17 people.
22 Cambodian workers rescued
PHNOM PENH: Twenty-two Cambodians trafficked onto Thai fishing boats have been rescued near the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, a Cambodian official said yesterday. The men, working on Thai boats fishing illegally in Mauritian waters, were rescued in cooperation with the island and the International Organisation for Migration, interior ministry official Chiv Phally said. “We are investigating to see how they ended up on Thai fishing boats,” he said, adding that 11 of the men were flown home on Tuesday while the remaining 11 will arrive today. Rights campaigners believe thousands of Myanmar and Cambodian men have been trafficked into Thailand’s multi- million dollar fishing industry, which provides seafood for restaurants and supermarkets around the world.
Malaysia poll set for May 5
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s general election will be held on May 5, an electoral official said yesterday, setting a long-awaited date for highly anticipated polls tipped to be the closest in the country’s history. Speaking a week after Prime Minister Najib Razak dissolved parliament, Election Commission chairman Aziz Yusof also said balloting would be preceded by a two-week official campaign period kicking off on April 20. The United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), which has controlled Malaysia through coalition governments since independence in 1957, faces a formidable opposition that has gained ground with promises to end corruption, cronyism and authoritarian rule. The opposition surged to its best showing in the 2008 vote.
Official jailed for home demolition
HANOI: A Vietnamese local government official was jailed for two-and-a-half years yesterday for the destruction of the home of a farmer who became a national hero for resisting eviction, state media said. Doan Van Vuon become a symbol of rising public dissatisfaction over land rights after arming his family with homemade shotguns in an attempt to keep their fish farm east of Hanoi. The rare act of defiance by the 50-year-old former soldier left seven policemen injured, but triggered a nationwide outpouring of support, with even Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung branding the eviction “illegal”. Nguyen Van Khanh, who was deputy chairman of the district where the incident happened, was given 30 months in jail for destroying the property. AGENCIES
