article_snippet: The work on the railway started in 1938 and was abandoned and never resumed due to the Japanese Army advancement in the Far East in the Second World War.
article_snippet: Nonetheless, after the Japanese invaded Burma in 1942, the Japanese used forced labour involving nearly 200,000 Asian civilians and 60,000 Allied PoWs to work on building the railway.
article_snippet: Of nearly 200,000 Asian civilians and 60,000 Allied PoWs, about 90,000 civilians and 60,000 Allied PoWs died from disease, malnutrition and beatings.