Xinhua Asia-Pacific News Summary at 1000 GMT, April 20

JALALABAD, Afghanistan -- Five civilians lost their lives and nine others sustained injuries as a roadside bombing launched by militants struck a vehicle in Haska Mina district of eastern Afghanistan's Nangarhar province on Friday, spokesman for the provincial government Attaullah Khogiani said.

"A mine planted by militants on a road in Haska Mina district struck a civilian vehicle today, killing five civilians including one child on the spot, and injuring nine others including two women and four children," Khogiani told reporters here. (Afghanistan-Bomb-Casualties)

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JAKARTA -- A helicopter crashed on Friday in Marowali Regency of Indonesia's Central Sulawesi province, leaving one dead and nine injuried including six Chinese nationals, officials said.

"Based on a manifest, all the six passengers of the helicopters are Chinese nationals," spokesman for the transport ministry Bambang Ervan told Xinhua via telephone. (Indonesia-Plane Crash-Chinese Victims)

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SEOUL, April 20 (Xinhua) -- South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) opened their first-ever hotline of direct dialogue between the leaders of the two sides ahead of the inter-Korean summit, the Blue House of South Korea said Friday.

Yun Kun-young, director for the Blue House's government situation room, told a press briefing that the connection of "the historic telephone line" between the leaders of the two Koreas was completed.

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BANGKOK -- A pickup truck plunged into a roadside ditch and overturned in eastern Thailand's Sa Kaeo province late Thursday, killing six and injuring three Thai teenagers, Thailand's Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) said on Friday.

The accident happened on Chanthaburi-Sa Kaeo road at Wang Nam Yen District of the province at about 10:00 p.m. local time on Thursday. (Thailand-Truck Accident-Casualties) Enditem