31 passengers kidnapped by insurgents in Myanmar's western state

YANGON - Some 31 passengers have been kidnapped from an express bus by an insurgent group in Myanmar's Rakhine state, said police Sunday.

The passengers, including 19 Fire Department personnel and 12 civilians, were abducted by the Arakan Army (AA) from the Shwepyitha express bus on Mrauk U-Sittway road in Mrauk U township on Friday morning.

When the bus stopped for a man in civilian cloth at the roadside signalling the bus to stop, 18 armed men emerged from the forest and took away the 31 passengers into the forest.

The police were making investigation and hunting the kidnappers in the forest.