25 Cambodians killed, 89 others injured by landmine in 7 months

PHNOM PENH, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia on Tuesday reported 114 landmine casualties in the first seven months of this year, representing a decrease of 4 percent compared with the same period last year, according to a report from the Cambodian Mine and Explosive Remnants of War Victim Information System.

During the January-July period this year, 25 people were killed, down 7 percent compared with the same period last year, said the report. At the meantime, 89 others were injured or amputated, down 3 percent.

It recorded that 61 percent of the victims were men, 31 percent were boys, and 8 percent were women and girls.

Cambodia is one of the world's worst countries affected by mines as the result of almost three decades of war and internal conflicts from the mid-1960s until the end of 1998.

Landmines Kill 20 Cambodians, Injure 76 In First 5 Months Of 2012

PHNOM PENH, June 23 (Bernama) -- A total of 20 people were killed and 76 injured in landmine incidents in the first five months of 2012, Xinhua news agency reported.

A report from the Cambodian Mine and Explosive Remnants of War Victim Information System said the worst tragedy occurred on Feb. 3 when an anti-tank mine exploded and killed eight people in Banteay Meanchey province located some 400 kilometres northwest of Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh.

The report said landmines took the lives of 19,639 people and injured another 44,474 between 1979 and May 2012.

Cambodia denies planting landmines on border with Thailand

PHNOM PENH, May 5 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday issued a statement to reject Thailand's assertion that the country has planted landmines along the border with Thailand.

The statement was made after Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Thani Thongphakdi, as reported in the Bangkok Post online on Friday, alleged Cambodia of deliberately placing landmines along the Thai-Cambodian border and a Thai soldier was badly injured by one of the devices on Wednesday.

The statement said "It is extremely sad and disturbing that such a baseless accusation is made against Cambodia, when mine explosion is still a common occurrence, even in places inhabited or cultivated for years after the war ended."

Thai protest after border mine casualty [-Did the Thai soldier enter Cambodian territories?]

Foreign Ministry spokesman Thani Thongphakdi (Photo by Kosol Nakachol)

4/05/2012
Thanida Tansubhapol
Bangkok Post

The Foreign Ministry on Friday strongly protested against Cambodia's continued efforts to place landmines along the Thai-Cambodian border, one of which seriously injured a Thai soldier on Wednesday.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Thani Thongphakdi expressed disappointment over the incident, saying the relationship between the two countries had improved recently.

"The incident was an action clearly in violation of Thai sovereignty, and left a Thai soldier seriously injured," said Mr Thani.

Thai soldier wounded in Thai-Cambodian border landmine explosion

NAKHON RATCHASIMA, May 3 (MCOT online news) - A Thai soldier lost his right leg stepping on a landmine while patrolling the Thai-Cambodian border, Second Army spokesman Col Prawit Hookaew said Thursday.

Col Prawit said the injured soldier was identified as Sgt Chatree Kaewprasan. He was sent to hospital in Ubon Ratchathani and is now recovering.

Sgt Chatree lost his right leg while leading his patrol to search for illegal loggers along the border in Si Sa Ket's Kantararak district Wednesday night.

Eight die in Cambodia anti-tank mine blast

Friday, February 03, 2012
AFP

PHNOM PENH — Eight Cambodian farmers were killed and one was critically injured on Friday after their truck hit two old anti-tank mines in northwestern Cambodia, police said.

"Seven people died on the spot. One man passed away later in hospital. The driver is in critical condition," Malai district police chief Sao Bun said after the blast on a cassava farm in Banteay Meanchey province.

"Because of heavy rainfall recently, the land became soft and when they drove across the farm they hit two anti-tank mines stacked on top of each other," he told AFP, adding that two other landmines had been found on the grounds in the past four years.

11 Cambodians killed, 50 injured by landmines in Q1

April 26, 2011
Xinhua

Cambodia has seen 61 landmine casualties in the first three months of this year, of the figure, 11 people were killed and other 50 injured, a report said on Monday.

According to the report from the Cambodian Mine and Explosive Remnants of War Victim Information System, from 1979 to March 2011, a total of 63,867 mine/ERW casualties were recorded. Of the casualties, 19,586 killed and 44,281 injured from mine/ERW accidents.

Cambodia is one of most mine affected nations in the world as result of 30 years of armed conflict.

Mines had been laid in Cambodia during the decades of chronic conflicts from the late 1960s to the mid-1990s.

Cambodia's five most mine-laid provinces are Battambang, Banteay Meanchey, Oddar Meanchey, Pailin and Preah Vihear.

Casualties from mines rise 17 per cent in Cambodia

Jan 26, 2011
DPA

Phnom Penh - Official figures showed 286 people were killed or injured by landmines and unexploded ordnance in Cambodia last year, an increase of 17 per cent over 2009.

The report from the Cambodian Mine/Explosive Remnants of War Victim Information Service said 71 people died and 215 were injured.

Chhiv Lim, a project officer for the government agency, said Wednesday that although casualty numbers had increased, the number of incidents was stable with 150 recorded in each year.

'We had one incident in which 15 people were killed or injured by an anti-tank mine in Pailin province and another in Battambang province when another 15 were killed or injured,' he said of the north-western provinces on the Thai border.

4 Cambodian children seriously injured by mine explosion

December 16, 2010
Xinhua

Four children were seriously injured in a landmine explosion on Wednesday afternoon when they were playing and hit the mine against the ground.

Kong Boy, councilor of Battambang province's Phnom Proek district, told Xinhua that the children picked up the mine at the forest behind their houses to play and smash against the ground, igniting the explosion.

"One girl and three boys aged from 3 to 13 were injured on stomachs, faces, hands and legs," he said.

He said the location is formerly the fighting zone during decades of war and mines are still scattered around the area.

The explosion happened in Phnom Prampi village, Chakry commune, Phnom Proek district of Battambang province, about 300 km northwest of capital Phnom Penh.

Cambodia's five most mine-laid provinces are Battambang, Banteay Meanchey, Udor Meanchey, Pailin and Preah Vihear. Mines had been laid in decades of chronic conflicts from the late 1960s to the mid-1990s.

Mine/ERW (Explosive Remnants of War) killed 260 Cambodian people in the first eleven months this year, up 20 percent compared to the same period of last year's 217 casualties, according to the report from the Cambodian Mine/ERW Victim Information System obtained on Tuesday.

260 Cambodians killed by Mine accidents in 11 months this year

December 15, 2010
Xinhua

Mine/ERW (Explosive Remnants of War) killed 260 Cambodian people in the first eleven months this year, up 20 percent compared to the same period of last year's 217 casualties, according to the report from the Cambodian Mine/ERW Victim Information System obtained on Tuesday.

The report recorded that from January to November this year, the cases of accidents increased by 2.23 percent to 137 accidents from 134 accidents at the same period of last year.

In November 2010 alone, 24 new casualties from 9 Mine/ERW accidents in five different provinces were reported, represented 140 percent rise if compared to the same month of last year of only 10 casualties.

The sharp rise in November was due to an anti-mine explosion in mid-November killed 14 people in a remote area in Battambang province.

Cambodia's five most mine-laid provinces are Battambang, Banteay Meanchey, Udor Meanchey, Pailin and Preah Vihear.

Mines had been laid in decades of chronic conflicts from the late 1960s to the mid-1990s.

Old Cambodian landmines 'kill dozens in 2010'

Cambodia's civil war ended in 1998, but millions of mines still litter the country

Tuesday, October 12, 2010
AFP

PHNOM PENH — Landmines left over from decades of civil war in Cambodia are still killing people on a weekly basis, new figures showed on Tuesday.

In the first eight months of 2010, 45 people died because of landmines or other ordnance, according to CMVIS, a data collection body set up by the Cambodian Red Cross and Handicap International.

Another 162 people were injured between January and August of this year, 37 of whom had to have limbs amputated.

The figures are slightly higher compared with the same period in 2009, when 186 casualties were recorded overall.

"Cambodia still has a big problem with ERW (explosive remnants of war)," said CMVIS project manager Chhiv Lim.

Nearly three decades of civil war and a secret US bombing campaign during the Vietnam War have left the impoverished southeast Asian nation as one of the world's most heavily mined countries.

The countryside is still littered with unexploded ordnance, which explains why most of the victims are farmers, Chhiv Lim said.

"They farm near a mine without knowing it, and when the family tries to extend their farm field, then they have a problem," he told AFP.

The total number of mine/ERW casualties recorded between 1979 and August 2010 stands at 63,727, according to CMVIS.

Five Killed, Nine Injured By Anti-Tank Mine Blast In Cambodia

PHNOM PENH, May 3 (Bernama) -- Five plantation workers were killed and nine others injured by an anti-tank mine that exploded when their vehicle drove over it Saturday afternoon in Pailin province's Sala Krao district, a government mine official confirmed on Monday.

Leng Sochea, deputy secretary general of Mine Action Authority, told Xinhua by phone that three people died instantly at the scene while another two died in the hospital.

Huot Sattha, director of the government's Mine Action Planning Unit in Pailin province, was quoted by the Phnom Penh Post as saying that 13 plantation workers were in the vehicle when it hit the mine, and one passenger escaped with only minor injuries.

"The driver and two women died instantly at the scene after their homemade vehicle ran over the mine on their way home from work," he was quoted as saying.

Last year Cambodia saw 243 land-mine and explosive remnants of war casualties, down from 271 in 2008.

Fewer Casualties From Mines in Cambodia, but Reduced Funding Means Risk Remains

Children sit near a minefield outside their home in the northwestern Cambodian province of Battambang, one of the most heavily-mined in the country (Photo: VOA - R. Carmichael)

23 February 2010
Robert Carmichael, VOA
Phnom Penh

The number of Cambodian casualties from land mines and explosives left from decades of conflict has been steadily declining. But cuts in donor funding for demining could see this trend reversed.

Cambodia has an unenviable reputation as one of the most heavily-mined countries on earth, along with countries such as Angola and Afghanistan.

So the news that the number of people killed or injured by land mines and leftover explosives dropped 10 percent last year is welcome.

Chhiv Lim heads the office that compiles the statistics on Cambodian mine casualties. He says more than 63,000 people have been killed or injured by mines and explosives since the Khmer Rouge government was driven out of power in 1979.

"From 1979 up to the year 2000 the number of casualties was still high because during that time Cambodia had the civil war, but since year 2000 until the year 2005 the number of casualties [was] still 800 per year," he said. "But since the year 2006 until now the number of casualties has dropped down - this is good news for Cambodia."

Chhiv Lim says that last year 243 people were killed or injured by land mines and leftover explosives in Cambodia, down from 271 the year before.

Chhiv Lim says the decline is due to Cambodia's demining program, which uses clearance teams from the government as well as from private groups such as Halo Trust and Mines Advisory Group, or MAG.

Efforts to educate people about the dangers of mines and explosives have also helped.

Jamie Franklin, the country head of MAG, says better coordination and improved clearance methods devised over the past two decades contributed to lower victim numbers too.

"And I think ongoing clearance and the increasing clearance that has been achieved over the last 10 years along with the risk-reduction and mine-risk education and the high level of awareness of the dangers of mines and UXO [unexploded ordnance] and the risks that they pose have helped contribute toward the ongoing reduction in annual casualty rates," said Franklin.

Franklin says the peace and stability that Cambodia has enjoyed since the civil war ended has also helped.

One-third of the casualties are children, and almost all of those are boys. Chhiv Lim says studies show men and boys tend to be more willing to play with or examine explosives than women are. "But some boys they're clever, [they say] 'I cannot play with this one, I must go home.' But there are still some boys whose behavior has not changed," he said.

That makes education a key part of the country's effort to reduce mine casualties.

Removing mines remains the primary task, and that is slow, dangerous and expensive work. Franklin says it took MAG's 15 de-mining teams the whole of last year to clear just three square kilometers, at a cost $3 million.

The Cambodian government says more than 600 square kilometers of land remains contaminated with land mines. Cambodia has signed the international treaty to ban land mines, and was supposed to clear all land mines by the end of last year.

Given the scale of the problem, that was impossible, and the country was recently granted a 10-year extension to rid itself of mines. But there is a risk that even the 2019 deadline could be missed.

MAG's Franklin says funding for demining worldwide is decreasing as donors switch spending priorities to other areas. If there is less money for removing mines, at a time when Cambodia's growing population needs more land, that could mean more casualties.

"And so there is a risk that if the support to clearance and the clearance reduces that we could see either a slowdown in the reduction of annual casualty rates or a reversal of the trend that we have been seeing for the last 15 to 17 years," he said.

Demining experts say if donors cut funding, Cambodia can not meet the 2019 deadline to make its people safe from land mines.

Starting a new chapter

29/01/2009
By PATSINEE KRANLERT
Bangkok Post

Sunshine and rainbows don't always follow a shower of rain, yet this man, laid low by a land mine almost two decades ago, has managed to piece together a new life for himself.

A soldier in the Cambodian army until he lost both hands during a mine-clearing operation in 1990, Tok Vanna spent the next 12 years living in dire poverty.

In 2002 he moved to Siem Reap with his family in search of a job, but his disability proved a major obstacle and he only managed to eke out an existence by begging on the streets. The following year his luck finally turned when he was spotted by a staff member from ILO, the United Nations agency.

After finishing a vocational training course, during which he also learned basic English, he received a small sum in seed capital from the ILO, sufficient to buy a pushcart and some books and set himself up in business.

Today his streetside stall boasts a large and interesting selection including an impressive number of non-fiction titles on Cambodia, mostly dealing with the devastation wreaked on that country by decades of conflict and the depredations of the Khmer Rouge.

As I stood there flipping through books with harrowing names like Welcome to Hell, Stay Alive My Son and First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers, he drew my attention to a tome with a red cover which he was holding against his chest with a truncated limb: "This is the best I have," he said in a gentle voice, "I recommend it to everybody."

I left carrying a copy of Survival in the Killing Fields, an account of life under the Khmer Rouge by Dr Haing Ngor, who later won an Oscar for his role in 1984's The Killing Fields.