Wed Nov 24, 2010
By Martin Petty
PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - A stampede that killed 456 people in Cambodia was sparked by the swaying of a bridge, investigators said on Wednesday in a report that failed to address broader questions facing the government over the deaths.
The preliminary government report, broadcast on media, echoed comments made a day earlier by government spokesman Phay Siphan who said the bridge was designed to sway, but the movement took pedestrians by surprise and some shouted it was broken.
The death toll rose to 456 from 375 on Tuesday with hundreds injured from Monday night's chaotic exodus of thousands of people along the narrow Diamond Gate bridge in the capital Phom Penh.
The disaster has raised plenty of questions -- from why so many people were allowed to enter such a confined space on a small, man-made island to how authorities handled crowds.
Critics have pointed fingers at developers who built the bridge, city authorities organising the festival and security forces. But they say ultimately the buck stops with the government of long-serving Prime Minister Hun Sen.
The disaster, however, is unlikely to spiral into political damage for Hun Sen, a strongman whose blend of populism and cronyism has kept him in office for a quarter of a century.
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