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Cambodia rocked by stampede toll
FESTIVAL NIGHTMARE:The prime minister apologized after 375
people were killed and 755 injured on a bridge connecting the capital with a
man-made island
Reuters, PHNOM PENH
Cambodian police officials examine hundreds of
shoes and other belongings on a bridge in Phnom Penh yesterday morning after at
least 375 people were crushed to death during a stampede when revelers at a
water festival panicked.
Photo: AFP
Cambodia searched for answers yesterday, one day after a stampede killed at
least 375 people on a suspension bridge where survivors said they were wedged
into the crowd of living and dead for hours.
The government launched an investigation into why thousands panicked late on
Monday on the pedestrian bridge connecting Phnom Penh to man-made Diamond
Island, where people were celebrating the last day of the annual Bon Om Touk
water festival marking the end of the rainy season.
Survivors recounted scenes of mass suffocation and desperate screams after
thousands went into a frenzy to flee the bridge, apparently after shouts went up
that some people had been electrocuted. Police said some also shouted that the
bridge was about to collapse.
The victims suffocated or were trampled and some survivors said they were wedged
into the crowd for hours. Police sprayed water so survivors could drink. About
755 people were injured.
ˇ§People were shouting that someone had been electrocuted, to run back,ˇ¨ Touch
Loch, 18, told Reuters. ˇ§I fell and people stepped on me until I passed out.
When I woke I was here in hospital.ˇ¨
Phay Siphan, a government spokesman, denied anyone was electrocuted on the
bridge, which was adorned with flashing lights. He said it was designed to sway,
but the movement took people by surprise and some shouted it was broken.
ˇ§The cause was panic, not electrocution,ˇ¨ he told reporters who gathered in
front of the bridge, which was littered with shoes and clothing left by victims.
Touch Theara, 38, said she had been stuck in the crowd for three hours: ˇ§I
thought I was dead ... Police sprayed water at us. We were just opening our
mouths to drink.ˇ¨
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen apologized for the disaster and ordered an
investigation as TV footage showed relatives weeping over bodies of the dead.
ˇ§This is the biggest tragedy in more than 31 years after the Pol Pot regime,ˇ¨ he
said, declaring tomorrow a day of mourning.
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