PHNOM PENH, Jun 11 (NNN-AKP) – A war-left anti-tank mine, exploded yesterday, killing the driver of a tractor, in western Cambodia’s Pailin province, a mine clearance chief, said.
Heng Ratana, director-general of the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC), said, the explosion happened at a date farm, in O Dey Sa’eth village of Sala Krau district’s Stueng Trang commune, when the ill-fated man was operating a power tiller to plough a field for growing dates.
He said, the tractor accidentally ran over the anti-tank landmine, triggering the explosion.
“The explosive remnants of war (ERWs), still continue to pose threats to the happiness and safety of the people of Cambodia, although the war has ended for more than 25 years,” Ratana wrote in a Facebook post.
Cambodia is one of the countries worst affected by landmines and ERWs. An estimated four million to six million landmines and other munitions had been left over from three decades of war and internal conflicts that ended in 1998.
According to Yale University, between 1965 and 1973, the United States dropped some 230,516 bombs, on 113,716 sites in Cambodia.
A Cambodian official report showed that, from 1979 to Apr, this year, landmine and ERW explosions had claimed 19,840 lives and maimed 45,264 others.
The country is committed to clearing all types of landmines and ERWs by 2030.– NNN-AKP
