KRATIE: A high school in Kratie Province has been temporarily closed while the Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC) works on removing over 2,000 grenades, ammunition and other unexploded ordnance, presumably left over from the Khmer Rouge era.

Kratie’s Department of Education Director Lay Bora, confirmed to EAC News that Queen Kosamak High School would be closed until further notice while CMAC determines the size and scope of the weapons cache and works on demining the area. He said that the school was undergoing renovations when workers found ammunition buried not far below ground on August 11. The school then called in the CMAC team who found over 2,000 unexploded ordnance buried three to four meters underground.

According to the education director, the unexploded ordnance consisted of M79 grenades, DK75 and FuzeM48 shells, and B40 rocket launcher ordnance. He said that the munitions may have been left over from the Khmer Rouge era and that the site could have been a storehouse for weapons and ammunition. He stressed that it would take time to check the area and that school would have to be closed until the grounds had been completely surveyed.

He said that students can continue to study online or organize home studies with their teachers while the dangerous situation is resolved.