Asia Briefs: Chinese tourists escape bus fire

Chinese tourists escape bus fire

AYER HITAM • Thirty tourists from China escaped unhurt after a fire broke out and destroyed the bus they were travelling in along Malaysia's North- South Expressway yesterday.

Fire and Rescue Department operations commander Ramli Said said the driver and tour guide were also unharmed. The passengers and their guide were transferred to another tour bus.

THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

Duterte's men hurt by roadside bomb

MANILA • A roadside bomb in the southern Philippines yesterday wounded seven members of President Rodrigo Duterte's security team, a day ahead of his planned visit to an area gripped by intense fighting between Islamist militants and government troops.

Mr Duterte said he would still go to Butig town today to visit wounded soldiers, adding that he hoped to take the same route and "maybe have a little gunfight".

REUTERS

Vietnam-Laos fuel pipeline project

VIENTIANE • Hanoi and Vientiane have expressed their full support for the construction of a pipeline that would deliver fuel from Vietnam to Laos, according to the Vientiane Times.

Vietnam's Minister of Transport Truong Quang Nghia last week met Lao Minister of Public Works and Transport Bounchanh Sinthavong to update him on the project, It involves 306km dual pipelines from the Hon La coastal port in Vietnam to Laos' central Khammouane province.

The newspaper said the project needs investment funding.

XINHUA

Seoul to cull poultry as bird flu strikes

SEOUL • South Korea will cull 3 per cent of its poultry population to curb a bird flu outbreak, its agriculture ministry said yesterday.

Since a severe strain known as H5N6 cropped up on Nov 18, the government has stepped up quarantine measures, with four new cases confirmed yesterday.

Although human infections from the H5N6 virus have been reported elsewhere - killing at least 10 people in China since 2014 - no human infection has been detected in South Korea.

REUTERS

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on November 30, 2016, with the headline Asia Briefs: Chinese tourists escape bus fire. Subscribe