CNN correspondent Dan Rivers is talking about his perilous journey out of cyclone-ravaged Myanmar (Burma). As TVNewser reported last Monday, Rivers was reporting anonymously at first, but by late Monday he’d begun identifying himself. That may have been his undoing.
Rivers soon found out the officials were looking for him. On Thursday, Rivers hid under a blanket at a police checkpoint. He returned reporting later that day, but was spotted again. He was told to return to his van where police would be waiting. “There were a lot of things going through our minds then about what we would find at the end of that journey,” he told the AP. “At one point I was thinking, ‘what if they just shot us and threw us into the river and said it was an accident?'”
The police handed Rivers over to another government official, who let him go after being convinced he and his group were part of the relief effort. The AP’s David Bauder writes, “cigarettes, water and a candy bar helped.”
“I kind of felt that I’d used my nine lives up and it was time to get out of the country,” Rivers said.
But the drama didn’t end there. Rivers was called off the airplane as it was ready to leave Yangoon. He was searched again, but thanks to an impatient flight attendent, Rivers was allowed back on the plane. By Friday, he was back in Thailand. “I was amazed at the lengths they apparently went just to catch me,” Rivers said.
And already CNN has a correspondent back in Myanmar. This time, reporting anonymously. (Image below from 10:26amET today)