Monday, October 05, 2009

Typhoon death toll in Cambodia reaches 17

Mon, 05 Oct 2009
DPA

Phnom Penh - Cambodian authorities on Monday said 17 people died and 65 were injured after Typhoon Ketsana swept through the country last week. "This is the biggest storm that I have seen in all my time working here," said Keo Vy, the deputy head of information at the National Committee for Disaster Management, who has worked at the centre since 1995.

Keo Vy said the toll could increase to 21 if four other people who drowned off the southern coast when their vessel sank on September 30 were included. One person survived the sinking.

The committee said about 22,700 families were affected by the storm in four provinces. Nearly 200 homes were destroyed and 644 others were damaged.

The typhoon caused widespread flooding, with its effects felt across Cambodia. The disaster agency said the storm damaged at least 22,000 hectares of rice fields.

The country director of international aid agency Oxfam-GB said Monday that as many as 35,000 hectares of rice fields were damaged.

"We are still in an emergency situation," said Francis Perez, adding that Oxfam was providing aid in some areas and still assessing conditions in others.

Oxfam said 14,000 families were displaced by the typhoon.

"We are looking at reaching 5,000 families this week, and have helped 2,500 families. So we are halfway to our target," Perez said.

The national disaster agency said the typhoon killed nine people in Kampong Thom province, 150 kilometres north of Phnom Penh, and three others in Siem Reap. Three more died in Ratanakkiri province in the east, while two were killed in Kampong Chhnang province.

Ketsana made landfall in central Vietnam early last week causing at least 159 deaths and widespread flooding before heading west into Cambodia. It had earlier caused severe damage and hundreds of deaths in the Philippines.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Did Sihanouk contribute any money to help khmers affected by the disaster? To my knowledge, Sihanouk contributed $50,000 to Chinese people who were victims of the recent disaster in China and contribute nothing to relieve his own people. I cannot believe that our former king is so caring more about people other than his own citizen.

Anonymous said...

11:11PM ! you are dreaming! What will make difference we will pay for Hun Xen who will pay for Shihanouk living!

What the fuck! we will still hungry!

Anonymous said...

go and ask "red cross of cambodia"....where is the money go to......now...they all own houses..in usa..in france...and many other countries in the whole...what else they want...go to po pot grave...and see what did pol pot bring with him...when pol pot was under the grave......

Anonymous said...

My poor Khmer souls may you go up to heaven and don't ever return as Khmer....or better yet come back as lightnings and strike ah Hun Sen and his family.

Anonymous said...

May their souls rest in peace for their purposes have been done on earth. My heart goes to those who have lost their love ones. Nature strike is unpredictable and it can happen to anyone at any time. May whatever God you believe in blesses you all. i believe all Gods are good, they would have common theory such as; love, compassion, sharing, respect, right and justice (some people may contribute to bad behaviours, but all Gods are good in every teaching), follow this message and we will prevent war to occur because of religious differences. So, in peace my fellow Asian friends, all for one and one for all.