New curfew declared after deadly Myanmar riots

(ROUGH CUT ONLY - NO REPORTER NARRATION)

Meikhtila, a central Myanmar town, declared a curfew for a second night on Thursday (March 21) after violent clashes killed 10 people, including a Buddhist monk, and injured at least 20, authorities said.

Riots erupted in Meikhtila, 540 km (336 miles) north of Yangon on Wednesday after an argument between a Buddhist couple and the Muslim owners of a gold shop escalated into a riot involving hundreds of people, police said, adding a government building was set on fire on Thursday morning.

Relations between Buddhists and Muslims have simmered since last year's sectarian violence in western Rakhine state killed 110 people and left 120,000 homeless.

At least one mosque, an Islamic religious school, several shops and a government office were set alight, said a fire service official who declined to be named.