YANGON, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar's southern Mon state government held a ceremony to mark the 75th anniversary of the completion of the Death Railway built by prisoners of war (POWs) linking Myanmar and Thailand during WWII, the Global New light of Myanmar daily reported Thursday.
The ceremony, held at the War Cemetery in Thanbyuzayat on Wednesday, was attended by Mon State Chief Minister Aye Zan and diplomats from 11 countries including Australia, Bangladesh, Britain, Canada, India, Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, Thailand and the United States.
They laid wreathes and paid tribute to the POWs of war who died during the construction of the railway.
The railway construction by started in 1941 and completed in October 1942 with the number of the sleepers of the railway reportedly representing the number of deaths to build the railways.
Aye Zan said the ceremony is aimed at remembering ill consequences of war and contribution to peace of the world without war.
To build the railway connecting Thailand and Myanmar to open the Asian Theater, the Japanese invading army forced the POWs from defeated countries and people from Southeast Asian countries to be laborers.
The Thanbyuzayat grave yard buried several thousands of victims of the Death Railway.
