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PM joins Cambodian stampede mourning
Source: Agencies |
November 26, 2010, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
CAMBODIA began a day of mourning yesterday with the prime minister weeping at the spot where hundreds died during a wild riverside stampede.
Prime Minister Hun Sen cried as he lit candles and incense at a narrow bridge where thousands of festival-goers panicked, trampling hundreds underfoot on Monday night. He was joined by the Bassac River in the capital Phnom Penh by his wife Bun Rany and Cabinet members. Flags throughout the country were flying at half-mast and a Buddhist ceremony was scheduled for later in the day.
There has been confusion over the death toll from the tragedy. The latest official casualty tally was 347 dead and 395 injured, down from earlier official figures.
A government investigation showed that as the suspension bridge swayed under the weight of thousands of revelers, some began to shout that the structure was going to collapse. Others pushed, heaved and even jumped off the span as a panic took hold that ended in mass deaths.
"People became panicked when they saw other people fall down, and they started running when they heard cries that the bridge was going to collapse," city police chief Touch Naroth told AP Television News on Wednesday.
The official probe into the accident's final report is expected next week, said Om Yentieng, a member of the investigating committee, yesterday. He said earlier casualty figures were not correct due to overlapping of counts by various institutions.
Prime Minister Hun Sen cried as he lit candles and incense at a narrow bridge where thousands of festival-goers panicked, trampling hundreds underfoot on Monday night. He was joined by the Bassac River in the capital Phnom Penh by his wife Bun Rany and Cabinet members. Flags throughout the country were flying at half-mast and a Buddhist ceremony was scheduled for later in the day.
There has been confusion over the death toll from the tragedy. The latest official casualty tally was 347 dead and 395 injured, down from earlier official figures.
A government investigation showed that as the suspension bridge swayed under the weight of thousands of revelers, some began to shout that the structure was going to collapse. Others pushed, heaved and even jumped off the span as a panic took hold that ended in mass deaths.
"People became panicked when they saw other people fall down, and they started running when they heard cries that the bridge was going to collapse," city police chief Touch Naroth told AP Television News on Wednesday.
The official probe into the accident's final report is expected next week, said Om Yentieng, a member of the investigating committee, yesterday. He said earlier casualty figures were not correct due to overlapping of counts by various institutions.
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