Schoolchildren among Burma landslide dead

Nearly 30 people – including a dozen schoolchildren – are feared dead after landslides triggered by torrential rains hit southeastern Burma, a Red Cross official said today.

Landslides were reported in four places near Myeik – also known as Mergui – on Wednesday, said the official, who said the death toll included 12 students from a small primary school engulfed by mud in Kyaukka village near Palaw, about 300 miles southeast of the capital Rangoon.