| English.news.cn 2013-07-31 15:48:42 |
   
 
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PHNOM PENH, July 31 (Xinhua) -- A man and his two children were
killed on the spot after their wood-loaded buffalo-cart ran onto an old
anti-tank mine in northwestern Cambodia's Oddor Meanchey province, a
demining center chief confirmed on Wednesday.
The accident occurred in a forest in Trapaing Prasat district when the wood-loaded buffalo-cart ran onto the mine on Tuesday afternoon.
"They cut wood from the forest for building a house and, unfortunately, their cart moved onto the mine and triggered the explosion," Heng Ratana, chief of the Cambodia Mine Action Center, told Xinhua.
The victims included a 45-year-old father and his 13-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter, he said, adding that the two buffaloes used to drag the cart were also killed in the accident.
The area is a former battlefield and landmines have not been cleared from the forest yet, he said.
Cambodia is one of the world's worst countries suffering from landmines. An estimated 4 million to 6 million landmines and other munitions were left over from three decades of war and internal conflicts that ended in 1998.
According to the center's reports, from 1979 to June this year, about 19,670 people were killed by landmines and 44,598 others were injured.
Heng Ratana said the country had cleared and destroyed about 3. 1 million landmines and unexploded ordnances as of June this year.
The country needs about 50 million U.S. dollars a year until 2020 to entirely get rid of all types of anti-personnel mines.
The accident occurred in a forest in Trapaing Prasat district when the wood-loaded buffalo-cart ran onto the mine on Tuesday afternoon.
"They cut wood from the forest for building a house and, unfortunately, their cart moved onto the mine and triggered the explosion," Heng Ratana, chief of the Cambodia Mine Action Center, told Xinhua.
The victims included a 45-year-old father and his 13-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter, he said, adding that the two buffaloes used to drag the cart were also killed in the accident.
The area is a former battlefield and landmines have not been cleared from the forest yet, he said.
Cambodia is one of the world's worst countries suffering from landmines. An estimated 4 million to 6 million landmines and other munitions were left over from three decades of war and internal conflicts that ended in 1998.
According to the center's reports, from 1979 to June this year, about 19,670 people were killed by landmines and 44,598 others were injured.
Heng Ratana said the country had cleared and destroyed about 3. 1 million landmines and unexploded ordnances as of June this year.
The country needs about 50 million U.S. dollars a year until 2020 to entirely get rid of all types of anti-personnel mines.
Editor:
Zhu Ningzhu
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