ash floods kill eight Cambodians

September 8, 2009 -
The Sydney Morning Herald, Australia

A torrential storm and flash floods killed at least eight people, including six children, Cambodian officials said on Tuesday.

Three girls and a boy, aged between 14 and 18, were killed on Sunday when they were swept out to sea while swimming in a heavy storm in Preah Sihanouk province, in the southeast of the country, said the province's deputy police chief Yim Bunnath.

In nearby Kampot province, two men were killed by flash floods, said the province's deputy governor Soth Ya. Another 1,500 people were evacuated on Monday to higher ground, he said.

In Kampong Cham province in the east, a six-year-old boy and a nine-year-old girl drowned on Sunday while swimming in a pond during heavy rain, the Khmer-language newspaper Rasmei Kampuchea reported on Tuesday.

Parts of the Cambodian countryside are now flooded because of seasonal monsoon rain.