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Myanmar junta shuts down internet to control pro-democracy protests

Myanmar's military junta has cut all wireless internet services until further notice, in what appears to be part of a concerted effort to control communications and messaging in the Southeast Asian country.

Pro-democracy demonstrators have repeatedly filled streets across the country for nearly two months in protest after the military overthrew the elected government over claims of election fraud, and installed a ruling junta.

The military has responded to the protests with a bloody crackdown. At least 550 people have been killed by junta forces, according to advocacy group the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners (AAPP).

READ MORE: UN envoy warns of 'imminent bloodbath'

Rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the junta had also "forcibly disappeared hundreds of people" – including politicians, election officials, journalists, activists and protesters – since the February 1 coup.

At least 2751 people, among them journalists, protesters, activists, government officials, trade unionists, writers, students, civilians and even children, have been detained, often in nighttime raids, according to AAPP.

Yesterday, most Myanmar citizens woke up to no internet access after telecoms companies received instructions from the Ministry of Transportation and Communications to stop wireless broadband internet services.

Customers of telecoms company Ooredoo received text messages the night before saying wireless services would be stopped until further notice.

The directive was dated from April 1.

A majority of customers in Myanmar connect to the internet through wireless data services and the move will leave only those with physical connections to access the web.

Mobile data has also been disabled for the 19th day, according to internet monitor Netblocks.

CNN has reached out to Myanmar's military for comment on the wireless internet shutdown.

As the military clamps down on the flow of information, dozens of journalists have been detained by security forces, according to the UN, and so have citizens who have spoken to media outlets, according to reports.

A CNN team spoke with residents yesterday while visiting a bazaar in Yangon's Insein township.

CNN is in Myanmar with the permission of the military and is being escorted by the military, including during the visit to the market.

Two women were arrested afterwards, ​according to a report from local outlet The Irrawaddy​.

The report included an eyewitness account that one woman was seen speaking to the CNN team.

It's unclear ​from that account whether that woman was among those arrested soon after.

An improvised anti-regime protest broke out while the team was present, its report added.

Multiple unverified reports posted on social media said at least two people had been taken away by security forces after speaking with the CNN team.

CNN has reached out to the Myanmar military for comment on the reported detentions.

In its latest briefing, the AAPP said it could confirm the location of "only a small fraction" of recent detainees it had identified.

The co-chairs of the United Nations Group of Friends for the Protection of Journalists on Thursday issued a statement voicing "deep concern over the attacks on the right to freedom of opinion and expression and the situation of journalists and media workers in Myanmar and strongly condemn their harassment, arbitrary arrests and detention, as well as of human rights defenders and other members of civil society."

SA to immediately lift Queensland border restrictions

South Australia will immediately revoke their border restrictions with Queensland after a snap Transition Committee meeting was called today.

Queensland residents will still need to be tested upon their arrival in South Australia.

Anyone entering South Australia from outside of known coronavirus exposure sites will no longer have to quarantine but will have to get tested on day one, five and 13, and self-isolate if they show symptoms, SA said in a statement.

READ MORE: Legendary Australian fashion designer Carla Zampatti dies a week after opera fall

The announcement comes after Queensland recorded just one case of community transmission in the last day and have identified the missing link in the original Brisbane cluster.

Queenslanders will now have the chance to travel to through SA throughout the rest of the Easter long weekend.

This morning, NSW recorded its third day of zero community transmission.

READ MORE: Huge fire completely destroys family home in Sydney's south-west

Death toll rises as Taiwanese police launch investigation into rail disaster

At least 51 people are dead and dozens more injured after a train barreled into an unmanned truck that had rolled onto the track in Taiwan on Friday, becoming the country's deadliest rail disaster.

Many passengers were crushed, while some survivors were forced to climb out of windows and walk along the train's roof to safety.

The truck's emergency brake was not properly engaged, according to the government's disaster relief center, and the vehicle slid about 20 metres down a hillside.

READ MORE: Train derailment become Taiwan's deadliest rail disaster

Minutes later, the train's lead car crashed into it, according to Railways Administration official Weng Hui-ping, just before the train entered a tunnel.

The train, which was carrying more than 400 people, derailed near the Taroko Gorge scenic area on the first day of a long holiday weekend when many people were using Taiwan's extensive rail system, including many families with children.

Images from the scene showed the train's cars wedged against the tunnel's walls. Part of the wall of one car had smashed into a seat.

"Many people were crushed under train seats in the collision. And there were other people on top of the seats. So those at the bottom were pressed and crushed and lost consciousness," a passenger with gauze taped to her elbow told Taiwanese broadcaster EBC, which did not show her face or give her name.

"At the beginning, they still responded when we called them. But I guess they lost consciousness afterward."

The National Fire Service confirmed the death toll — which included the train's young, newly married driver and the assistant driver — and said more than 100 people were injured.

READ MORE: 'Illegal structures' found where Chinese boats gathered

The service earlier said all passengers had been accounted for, but a spokesperson later said there may be more bodies trapped in the mangled cars and the death toll may still rise.

The spokesperson spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to release the information to media.

Weng, of the Railways Administration, called the crash Taiwan's deadliest rail disaster.

He said a construction truck whose owner was a contractor for the administration slid from a work site above the track. No one was in the truck at the time.

An investigation has been launched, and Hualien police have interviewed one person, Weng said.

The stretch of track where the orange-striped train came to a halt hugs the coastline and lacks any protective fencing.

Yellow and red police tape marked the area of the crash, where tents had been set up and dozens of rescuers and officials had converged.

With much of the train still inside the tunnel, many escaping passengers had to scramble out of doors and windows and scale the sides of the train to walk along the roof in darkness to safety.

One young man interviewed by Taiwanese media at a hospital said he had travelled with friends for the holiday but now had no idea where they were.

"Everyone just went flying all over the place," said the man, who only gave his surname as Chen and who was in a wheelchair, his arm in a cast.

Obviously distraught and in pain, he said the cars and seats had been twisted out of shape.

Taiwan is a mountainous island, and most of its 24 million people live in the flatlands along the northern and western coasts that are home to most of the island's farmland, biggest cities and high-tech industries.

The lightly populated east where the crash happened is popular with tourists, many of whom travel there by train to avoid mountain roads.

In a tweet, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen said emergency services "have been fully mobilised to rescue & assist the passengers & railway staff affected.

We will continue to do everything we can to ensure their safety in the wake of this heartbreaking incident."

The crash came on the first day of the four-day Tomb Sweeping Festival, an annual religious holiday when people travel to their hometowns for family gatherings and to pay their respects at the graves of their ancestors.

Taiwanese Premier Su Tseng-chang said the Railways Administration would be required to immediately conduct checks along other track lines to "prevent this from happening again."

About 50 volunteers from the Tzu Chi Buddhist Foundation stationed at an aid tent near the crash site said children were among the dozens who escaped the train cars.

They were treating minor wounds and offering lunches.

A passenger is helped to climb out of a derailed train in Hualien County in eastern Taiwan.

"We see people coming off the train and they look shaken and nervous," said Chen Tzu-chong, a Tzu Chi team leader on site.

Taiwan's last major rail crash was in October 2018, when an express train derailed while rounding a tight corner on the northeast coast, killing at least 18 people and injuring nearly 200.

In 1991, a collision in western Taiwan killed 30 people and another crash a decade earlier also killed 30.

Those were said to be the worst previous crashes on the rail system that dates from the late 19th century.

Taiwan's extensive rail system has undergone substantial upgrades in recent years, particularly with the addition of a high-speed line connecting the capital Taipei with west coast cities to the south.

The train involved in Friday's derailment, the Taroko No. 408, sometimes called the Taroko Express, is one of Taiwan's newer models.

One new local COVID-19 case in Queensland linked to known cases

One new locally acquired case of COVID-19 has been detected in Queensland today, as health authorities probe concerns a specific patient room within the Princess Alexandra Hospital may be to blame for the recent outbreaks.

Today's new case is a close contact of a positive case linked to the North Brisbane cluster.

The man has been in quarantine since March 27, after being identified as a close contact due to having visited the Black Hops Brewery in East Brisbane seven days prior.

He was tested as a close contact of a confirmed case and initially returned a negative result, but has since tested positive.

READ MORE: Blood clots likely 'nothing to do with' AstraZeneca vaccine, says expert

Brisbane testing March 31

Chief Health Officer Dr Jeanette Young said the man posed "no risk" to the community as he had been in quarantine for his entire infectious period.

"The good news is that the lockdown has served its purpose in that the people we were tracing had been able to be quarantined before they were infectious, which is exactly the purpose in which we sought to have the lockdown," Queensland's Health Minister Yvette D'Ath said.

READ MORE: What Queenslanders can and can't do this Easter

There have also been two new cases detected in hotel quarantine, both of which are believed to be historical infections.

The results come from 25,837 COVID-19 tests conducted across Queensland in the past 24 hours.

In further good news for the state, 11 coronavirus patients were discharged from hospital in the past 24 hours, with 74 still remaining.

"But 74, of course, is still very high, and we are looking after those people in our hospital system currently," Ms D'Ath said.

Health authorities in Brisbane contine to investigate how doctors and nurses at the Princess Alexandra Hospital were infected by their patients, Dr Young today revealing there were particular concerns around a specific room within the isolation ward.

The Chief Health Officer said that the two COVID-19 patients who infected hospital staff both stayed in the same room within Ward 5D of the hospital, one after the other.

"We think there could be a problem with that particular room or the environment around that room," Dr Young said.

No new coronavirus cases are being admitted to the PA Hospital while that investigation takes place.

Testing of hospital staff has also been increased, with all frontline staff working directly with COVID-19 patients to be tested at the start of every shift, in the same way as those working inside quarantine hotels.

Dr Young said that up until now, this was thought unnecessary as medical staff were highly trained in the correct use of PPE but new, more infectious strains now made it necessary.