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.
"There won't be any fallout for Hun Sen and his government. It won't go away any time soon, but it can be explained away as a tragedy," said Pavin Chachavalpongpun a professor of regional strategic and political studies at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore.
"Hun Sen will think he will get away with it and he's not under threat and he's probably right. There's a reason he's survived in office for so long."
That reason centres on the rural popularity of Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party (CPP), which has a big parliamentary majority, and his powerful connections among the business elite, the judiciary and the security forces.
POWER MONOPOLY
Rights groups accuse the CPP of using the judiciary to silence its political opponents, especially the main opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP), named after a leader who lives in self-exile in France, avoiding jail sentences of a combined 12 years for forgery, disinformation and criminal damage, charges he says were politically motivated to intimidate his party.
Experts say the government's virtual monopoly on power and its connections will mean, while some heads might roll, senior city and police officials, or those involved in the construction of bridge are not likely to face prosecution.
Hours after the stampede, Hun Sen apologised to the country for what he said was Cambodia's biggest tragedy since the era of the Khmer Rouge regime three decades ago.
But he has kept a low profile since, a move that in most other countries would have attracted a hail of public criticism. "Others would try to score political points from this, but he has nothing to gain," added Pavin. "With emotions high, public appearances might lead towards criticism."
The power of Hun Sen's pro-business government has been a plus point for investors, despite the frequent criticism it draws from rights groups and foreign donors.
The CPP has presided over a period of unprecedented stability and economic growth over recent years and increased foreign investment has helped boost the party's popularity.
Few believe the CPP's power base will be weakened as a result of the stampede but some analysts point to an outside chance of trouble ahead if the investigation does not meet public grievances and no one is brought to book.
Many of the victims are believed to be from rural provinces that delivered a landslide to the CPP in a 2008 general election. The next poll takes place in 2013.
"There was incapacity within the security forces to handle the crisis and standards were not enforced in managing this event," said Ian Bryson, a Singapore-based consultant at Control Risks.
"I doubt there will be any real fallout immediately, but if nothing is done, if these grievances are allowed to fester, the CPP could have themselves a problem in the next election."
(Editing by Jason Szep and Robert Birsel)
4 comments:
People who have lost their love ones can weep, cry, screem, yelling, pull hairs out, or walk up to Chroychangvar japanese built bridge to commit suicide.
However, the fact of this matter is the rotten culture of gross neglegence and incompetent of the authority undeniably and evidently there to stay for a long haul. So Cambodian people be braced for yourselves to live with these short sightseeing laggers to make your lives more dramatic.
We all know that this huge incident involve with hundreds of people death or even thousands was not happened only in Cambodian and One can legitimate make argument about this fact.
However, the point is that when you pull the string of fatal events(small or big) 6 Singaporean youths drown in boat race several years ago and put together; incapable of managing even tiny road trafffic, then you are wondered why this tragic magnitude can easily happened under their nose.
There is nothing we can do when life was lost but the question remain unanswer and perhaps it never will.
Building Stupa is served only a symbol of memory and relatively and culturally to commenmorate to the death. It plays well to the belief of some, but it does not solve the big messy fundamental issue that this Government falls in sleep in their own swift grip.
Cambodian people now and in the future desire and demand to have more compentent, much smart organizers and future outlook officials in this Do Little Administration.
Dear Khmer compatriot brothers and sisters,
I think this post is Exactly right!
I fill very sorry for the incident at Koh Pich that Khmer have been suffering again and again; I wish Khmer stop having the tragedies like this from now on. However, what I can see, if Yourn are still behind Hun Sen government, used Hun Sen ‘s hands to help killing Khmer in many different ways like that, Khmer never stop being suffered. This happening, at Koh Pich, is not the final tragedy for Khmer citizen. I do not believe that it is a real accident disaster; it has to have somebody plan to work on it to kill Khmer citizen for weakening us. If my view is correct, you will see Khmer will have a lot more tragedies than this in the near future. Therefore in order to stop something happen like this is to pull Hun Sen and his clans out of the government (it does not meter how we do it) and change government structure and policies.
It is not about the government only. It is about crowd management. It could have happened anywhere in the world, even in the less corrupted countries.
Stop taking this opportunity to accuse the government Martin Petty.
Your Majesty Samdech Ta former King Norodom Sihanouk,
Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen,
Thank you for your both kindness and understanding.
What we need is prevention methods, not to let this type of accident happen again in the future.
It also makes me very worried to see so much alcohol allowed to enter or be produced in our beloved Kingdom of Cambodia? What about “ YA BA “ and other types of DRUGS from Thailand and Vietnam?
Can His Majesty Samdech Ta and Samdech Hun Sen stop all sorts of drugs coming to Cambodia? The accident may not be related to drugs and alcohol but just some thing that I could not sleep peacefully from now on to the future, in the names sake of true Khmer citizen.
Can Samdech Hun Sen kindly ask all 5 million Vietnamese illegal immigrants to peacefully return to Vietnam, so Koh Pich will not be too crowded more and more every day, every month and every year to come.
All Vietnamese illegal immigrants can easily come in and settle inside Cambodia even though they already have their own country Vietnam.
When Cambodia is too crowded, definitely we Khmer people can not go to settle inside Vietnam, can we?
Please Vietnamese, you said you came to rescue us from Pol Pot, and you don’t want to return home, it is not right according to 23rd October 1991 Paris Peace Agreement, can all of you go back to your country now.
Vietnamese illegal immigrants, you see because 5 million of you are inside Cambodia, it makes us too crowded and we wasted our lives at Koh Pich without good reasons.
Your Vietnamese Communism expansionist mind in Cambodia, is to give an excuse to China mainland to occupy your Spratly Islands, Parcel Islands, the whole of your Eastern sea border and perhaps the Northern border sooner or later.
5 million Vietnamese illegal immigrants in Cambodia, please go back home to defend your country from Chinese mighty economic invasion.
May I pray to God and the Lord Jesus Christ that those who have lost loved one will be comforted.
My condolences to all the victim's family.
Regards,
Kulen Monorom
(The rice farmer's son)
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