November 23, 2010
By Luke Hunt
The Diplomat
Tragedies in Cambodia always seem to have an air of inevitability about them. The anti-Thai riots in 2003, 40-odd land mine victims a month, massive slum fires, routine floods, occasional droughts and unrelenting street crime have all left their mark on the country’s return to peace over the past 12 years.
But in terms of loss of life, none can surpass the sheer numbers and total senselessness that resulted from the bridge stampede on Monday night, during the final celebrations of the annual Water Festival.
At last count, the death toll from the Diamond Island Bridge disaster was 349, and still rising.
Hindsight is often discredited as too convenient and too late. But like the anti-Thai riots almost eight years ago, the second and third slum fires at around the same time and the culture of impunity that allows crime to flourish, this stampede and ensuing crush was sadly not unexpected.
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