Cambodian girl dies in cremation blast

August 02, 2011
AAP

An EIGHT-year-old girl has been killed in an explosion at a crematorium in Cambodia after her relatives poured petrol on her late grandmother's casket to make it burn faster, Police say.

Twelve others, all mourners attending the funeral service, were injured in the blast in eastern Kampong Cham province, Stung Trang district police chief Chea Thearith told AFP.

One male relative was in a critical condition in hospital, he said.

[Sokimex] Fuel Tanker Explodes in Capital; None Harmed

Scenes from the explosion location (All photos: DAP-news)

A military police officer stands guard as fire fighters are putting out the blaze. (Photo: By Heng Reaksmey VOA, Khmer)

Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Tuesday, 21 September 2010

“Before the explosion, I heard a noise from the fuel truck driver, a honking of the horn, and when I came outside, I saw flames coming from the truck.”

A fuel truck ignited in Phnom Penh Tuesday afternoon, destroying houses and cars but leaving bystanders and the driver otherwise unharmed, witnesses and police said.

The driver of a fuel truck for Sok Kong Import Export Co. Ltd., was transferring fuel at a garage in Prampi Makara district around 12:30 pm, when a flame from an unknown source appeared along the refueling house, they said.

Seeing the flame, the driver jumped in the cab of the truck, drove about 300 meters, then exited the vehicle and fled before the tank ignited, witnesses and police said.

Police are now looking for the driver, who fled at the scene of the explosion, apparently unharmed.

The explosion ignited fires across five houses, but those were extinguished when nearly 10 fire trucks arrived at the scene, police said.

“Before the explosion, I heard a noise from the fuel truck driver, a honking of the horn, and when I came outside, I saw flames coming from the truck,” said Pich Thavy, 48, whose house caught on fire.

She called to her son and the two of them jumped from the first floor of the house. “Now I hurt my spine,” she said. “I've lost everything, including my property and vehicle. I request to Sokimex to make compensation.”

Sokimex officials were not immediately available for comment.

A policeman was injured as he helped put out the fire, which pushed a roiling column of thick black smoke over the city Tuesday.

Rocket launcher explosion kills four Cambodians

August 31, 2010
Xinhua

At least four Cambodians were killed and three others injured in a rocket launcher explosion in Cambodia's northwestern province of Pursat, police said Monday.

Ros Bunnan, deputy police commissioner of Pursat province, said the incident happened at 4 pm on Sunday in Roveang Village, Phnom Kravanh District, some 230 kilometers northwest of Phnom Penh.

He said a man in the village was using the recently found head of a leftover B-40 rocket launcher pretending it as a microphone to sing, then it fell down to the ground and exploded.

He said four men standing and sitting nearby were killed and other three women were injured.

Many explosive remnants of war are left in the country, especially the northwestern parts of Cambodia after several decades of civil war.

In a report released Monday by Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority it said from January to July 2010, there were 184 mine and explosive remnants of war (ERW) casualties.

The report also showed that since 1979, there has been 63,704 casualties related to mine and ERW.

Unidentified flying object explodes over southern Vietnam [on Koh Tral Island, not too far from Kampot]

Wed, 28 May 2008
DPA

Hanoi - A large unidentified flying object exploded over an island off southern Vietnam, and local officials said Wednesday they suspected it had been a military or civilian aircraft. The explosion occurred Tuesday morning above Cua Can commune on Phu Quoc, a large island belonging to Vietnam just off the coast of Cambodia, according to Ngang Van Truyen, chairman of the commune.

"It was a huge explosion, and we thought at first that it was thunder," Truyen said. "But then we saw a 100-metre-long smoke trail in the sky and knew that it was the explosion of a flying object."

Truyen said people in the commune found six pieces of aluminum-like metal painted yellow-green on one side. The largest piece is more than 1 metre long and 50 centimetres wide. However, no markings or letters are found on the pieces.

"One of the pieces pierced the metal roof sheet of a house in the commune, but no one was injured," Truyen said. "We are searching the area to see if there are other pieces, or even bodies."

According to a military official of the district, who requested anonymity, there were no military planes operating in the area at the time of the explosion.

"We haven't identified what it is, but we suspect that it is a plane," the official said. "It could be either a military plane or a civilian plane, but I don't think it's a flying saucer."

According to Ngang Van Truyen, the metal pieces are curved, and no noise had been heard before the explosion.

Several of Vietnam's government-controlled newspapers Wednesday reported the incident, but none had any further information on the object, which suggests that it was not a Vietnamese military aircraft.

Recent accidents involving Vietnamese military aircraft, including the crash of a light transport plane in April that killed five pilots, have been openly reported in the Vietnamese press.

Someone wants to remove the Phnom Penh Eyesore Monument dedicated to the Vietnamese invasion

Eyesore in the city of Phnom Penh: The Cambodia-Vietnam Friendship Monument built in the late 1970s by the communist regime which took power after the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia. The monument is located in the centre of Phnom Penh not far from the Royal Palace. (Photo: Wikipedia)

Three explosives found at Cambodia-Vietnam monument

29 Jul 2007
The Times of India

PHNOM PENH: A homemade explosive device went off at a friendship monument in Cambodia on Sunday, police said.

Three devices were found at the Cambodian-Vietnamese Friendship Monument in Phnom Penh, police said, but no one was injured. The device did not appear to contain any shrapnel, police said.

"It seems intentional," said Phnom Penh Police Chief Touch Narot. There is still-strong anti-Vietnamese sentiment in Cambodia, fuelled by resentment over neighboring Vietnam's past territorial expansions.

Vietnam invaded Cambodia in 1978, ousted Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge regime and occupied the country for a decade.

Although Vietnamese forces withdrew in 1989, many Cambodians are suspicious of Hanoi's intentions, fearing it wants to take Cambodian territory again.