Cambodia reports 88 lightning deaths

August 05, 2010
Xinhua

Cambodian government said Thursday that 88 people, mostly in rural areas -- have died of lightning strikes.

Keo Vy, communication officer of National Committee of Disaster Management said that by the end of July, there were 88 people have died in lightning strikes.

However, he said, the figure is still less than that in the same period last year as 110 died of lightning incidents.

Keo Vy noted that Pursat province, located about 200 kilometers north of Phnom Penh was recorded with more victims than the other 23 provinces and cities throughout the country.

He said last year more than 20 victims reported from Pursat province alone.

By mid June this year, Cambodia recorded only 48 deaths by lightning.

For several occasions, Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen has alerted and made an appeal to public to take more precaution, saying the lightning seemed fiercer in recent years.

Lightning which occurs every year in Cambodia, normally starts in rainy season which begins from May through October.

The report file by the National Committee of Disaster Management showed that the total figure of deaths last year was recorded at 140 and 95 deaths were recorded in 2008.

Most of the victims were living in rural areas.

Lightning kills 5 in a day

Around 50 Cambodians were killed by lightning in the first four months of 2009, while the official toll for last year was 95 deaths. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

June 28, 2009
AFP

PHNOM PENH - LIGHTNING strikes killed five people in Cambodia in a single day, a local newspaper reported on Sunday.

Two people were killed in Kampot province, in Cambodia's south, while three were killed in the central provinces of Kampong Chhnang and Kampong Speu, according to the newspaper Rasmei Kampuchea Daily.

It said four of the victims, all killed on Friday, were farmers working in the fields - a group especially at risk when they continue to work during rainstorms.

Around 50 Cambodians were killed by lightning in the first four months of 2009, while the official toll for last year was 95 deaths.

Experts say the tropical South-east Asian country, with its many rivers and lakes, is particularly prone to cloud formations which generate intense lightning storms.

These formations can lie just 50 metres (164 feet) above the earth, and anyone underneath is vulnerable to lightning strikes.

Cambodia's government is trying to raise awareness in the provinces of measures to protect against such natural disasters, according to Long Saravuth, weather expert at the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology.

'We hope there will be fewer deaths as more and more people become well-informed about safety during lightning storms,' he said on Sunday.