PHNOM PENH: Two separate blasts from unexploded ordnance left over from Cambodia's decades of war killed one person and injured four others, police said on Monday (May 13).
One incident took place on Sunday in Banteay Meanchey province's Phnom Srok district when a 45-year-old man struck a DK75 rocket propelled grenade round with an axe.
The ill-fated man discovered the unexploded ordnance when he ploughed his rice field, the police said.
In another incident on Saturday, a war-era grenade injured four persons in central Kampong Chhnang province's Baribour district as it exploded while they played with it.
The wounded persons included two adults and two children, said Cheng Chandona, governor of Baribour district, adding that they found the grenade when they went fishing in a river.
Authorities renewed calls for the public, especially those living in former battlefields, not to attempt to interfere with landmines, unexploded ordnance or any other kinds of explosive remnants of war, as they could explode at any time.
Cambodia is one of the countries in the world that suffered the most from mines and unexploded ordnance as the results of three decades of war and internal conflicts from the mid-1960s until 1998. An estimated 4 to 6 million land mines and other munitions left over from the conflicts.
From 1979 to February 2024, landmine and unexploded ordnance explosions had claimed 19,822 human lives and either injured or amputated 45,221 others in the Southeast Asian country, according to an official report. - Xinhua
