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Four Killed by Landmines in Preah Vihear Province

PHNOM PENH: The Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA) has reported that three demining staff of the Cambodian Self Help Demining (CSHD) organization, and one villager, were killed in two separate mine explosions in Sen Techeas village in Preah Vihear province on Monday morning.

According to a notice posted on the official Facebook page of CMAA, it was confirmed that a mine explosion had occurred around 11:30 AM on Monday in Sen Techeas village in Preah Vihear province. The explosion left three explosive ordinance disposal (EOD) staff from CSHD dead, and another seriously injured and currently being treated at the Division Hospital.

This incident came just two days after the demining organization received a request from residents of the village to find a total of 12 rounds of 82mm non-lethal ammunition on their farm area. In addition, another separate mine explosion took place on the same day around 11 AM at a potato field, killing another resident of Sen Teacheas village.

The Director General of the Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC), Heng Ratana, wrote on his official Facebook page saying that these two unconnected explosions coincidentally occurred around the same time and in the same village. He said, “It was a coincidence that before the deminer's death, only about 20 minutes before in this village, there was also a bomb blast that killed a villager.”

Director General Heng Ratana further confirmed to EAC News that in the past, there had been incidents of demining officers working for a number of organizations, including CMAC, who died while clearing unexploded mines, but he said that in recent years Cambodia has seen less of such incidents.

Among the provinces bordering Cambodia and Thailand, Preah Vihear is the one with the highest number of unexploded ordnances still left.

The CMAC Director General added that he would like to take this opportunity to call on everyone to be careful, especially when finding landmines or unexploded ordnances, he urged everyone to report to the local authorities, police force or deminers nearby, so that the explosives can be cleared immediately to avoid potential injuries and deaths.

According to a statement made by the First Vice President of CMAA, Ly Thuch, in September 2021, the current area of minefields in Cambodia is about 800 square kilometers. He stated that due to the achievements of the implementation of a mine action plan between 2018-2020, Cambodia was able to liberate 421 square kilometers of land from landmines and unexploded ordnances, equivalent to 66% of the three-year plan. During this period, 49,256 anti-personnel mines, 956 anti-tank mines and 221,372 explosive remnants of war were found, and about 2 million people were affected.



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