Myanmar jails two imams for deadly school blaze

YANGON: Two imams in Myanmar have been sentenced to eight years in prison for negligence over a fire at a religious school that killed 13 boys, state media said Saturday.

Around 70 children, some orphans, were sleeping in dormitories at the school inside a mosque complex in Yangon when the blaze broke out in April 2013.A court in Yangon said in its ruling on Friday that the fire was caused by overheating of an electrical regulator and that the door of the school was locked, according to the New Light of Myanmar newspaper.

The victims died of suffocation when they were unable to escape.

The tragedy fanned religious tensions in the country following a wave of deadly Buddhist-Muslim unrest, but the authorities were quick to rule out arson.

The two defendants plan to launch an appeal, the report said.

Anti-dam march in Myanmar

Dozens of protesters began a 2,400-km march on Sunday to northern Myanmar, calling for the cancellation of a Chinese-backed hydroelectric dam project over environmental concerns. The $3.6 billion dam along the Irrawaddy River, which was supposed to export 90 per cent of its power to China, was suspended in 2011.

Now, many worry construction will resume after the 2015 general elections.

Waving banners calling for permanent cancellation of the Myitsone dam, around 60 people gathered early Sunday in a suburb of the main city of Yangon.

They will walk along the Irrawaddy River , said one of the organisers. He expects the march to Myitsone in Kachin state, where the dam is located, to take up to 70 days.

The vast majority of Burmese do not have access to electricity. — AP