Wednesday, November 24, 2010
AFP
Hundreds die in Cambodia stampede The death toll from a bridge stampede during a busy festival in the Cambodian capital has risen to 456, as the victims' grieving relatives expressed anger about security at the event.
Authorities continue to investigate why throngs of revellers panicked, crushing and trampling people underfoot on an overcrowded narrow bridge in Phnom Penh.
The government admitted it had overlooked issues of crowd control at the three-day event, which attracted some three million revellers to the capital from all over Cambodia.
"We were concerned about the possibilities of boats capsizing and pick-pocketing... we did not think about this kind of incident," said government spokesman Khieu Kanharith.
He said a private firm had been in charge of security on the island and the bridge where the disaster unfolded.
"The place is private, so they used their own security, and police only helped handle order outside," Mr Kanharith said.
The firm managing the island refused to comment except to say that it had been questioned by an investigating committee set up by the government.
Searching for answers
As the first funerals and cremations began taking place across the country, bewildered relatives searched for answers.
"I feel very sad and angry about what happened," Phea Channara said at a funeral service for his 24-year-old sister on the outskirts of Phnom Penh.
"I wonder if the police really did their job. Why did they allow it to happen in the first place?"
Waiter Choy Bora said he was frustrated with the security response as he watched the clean-up operation of the bridge which had been littered with discarded flip-flops, items of clothing and water bottles after the crush.
At the entrance to the now notorious crossing, still closed off to the public, locals in the mostly Buddhist country burned incense and prayed for the souls of the deceased.
They laid out flowers, cake and bananas as offerings.
Exuberant festival-goers had been crossing the bridge to reach an island hosting concerts, food stalls and ice sculptures when the stampede began.
It was not immediately clear what had triggered the disaster, but Mr Kanharith said a rumour had spread among revellers that the bridge was unstable.
He said many of the deaths were caused by suffocation and internal injuries. About two-thirds of those killed were women.
The event, which saw hundreds of brightly coloured boats take part in races on the Tonle Sap, is popular with tourists but the government said no foreigners were believed to be among the victims.
Prime minister Hun Sen has described the disaster as Cambodia's worst tragedy since the Khmer Rouge's 1975-1979 reign of terror, which killed up to a quarter of the population. Thursday will be a national day of mourning.
He also said that a memorial stupa will be built "to commemorate the souls of the people who lost their lives in the incident... and to remember the serious tragedy for the nation and the Cambodian people".
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