Burma migrants suffocate in lorry - survivors are jailed

The survivors of a people-smuggling accident which left 54 illegal migrants from Myanmar dead have been sentenced to three days in jail by a court in Thailand.  A Thai court convicted them of illegal entry on Friday.
The 50 defendants were part of a group of 120 migrants packed at the back of a freezer lorry as they fled economic collapse in hope of finding work on the Thai resort island of Phuket.
Fourteen children have already been handed over to immigration authorities for repatriation, after surviving the deadly trip across the Thai border in the airtight seafood container.
Two other survivors are being treated in hospital for dehydration and lack of oxygen

The 54 migrants were found dead inside the packed container lorry after dozens more managed to escape from the vehicle and flag down police.

Police said the migrants had suffocated after the air-conditioning failed.

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.