8 killed, 1 injured after mini-bus catches fire near Myanmar's Yangon

Eight people have been killed and one injured in a mini-bus fire on Yangon-Mandalay expressway near Yangon, an official of the local police force said.

With nine people aboard, the mini-bus caught fire when it hit the guardrail of the road and its fuel tank exploded, the official told Xinhua Saturday night.

A man was injured as he escaped from the burning vehicle. Seven of the victims were female engineers while another one was the driver.

All people on board were the employees of a local construction company. They went back after a visit to Bagan, an ancient city in central Myanmar.

There were 744 traffic accidents on the Yangon-Mandalay expressway, during which 167 people were killed in 2016, according to the Ministry of Information. Enditem