Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Landmine casualties in Cambodia down 36 pct in 7 months


English.news.cn   2013-08-27 12:45:45            
PHNOM PENH, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia reported 74 landmine casualties in the first seven months of this year, down 36 percent from the 115 casualties over the same period last year, the figures of the Cambodia Mine Action Center (CMAC) said Tuesday.
During the January-July period this year, 12 people were killed and 62 others were injured, while at the same period last year, 25 people were killed and 90 were injured, the figures said.
From 1979 to July this year, about 19,674 people were killed by landmines and 44,603 others injured, the report said.
The latest accident occurred on Aug. 14 in northwestern Preah Vihear province, killing six farmers when their home-made tractor ran onto an old anti-tank mine.
The Southeast Asian nation is one of the world's worst countries suffered from landmines. An estimated 4 to 6 million landmines and other munitions have been left over from three decades of war and internal conflicts that ended in 1998.
Heng Ratana, CMAC's director general, said so far, about 3.1 million landmines and unexploded ordnances have been removed and destroyed, and the country needed about 50 million U.S. dollars a year until 2020 to entirely get rid of all types of anti-personnel mines.
Editor: Mengjie

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