Aussie shot dead in Cambodia

January 10, 2011 – 4:49PM
AAP

An Australian man has been shot dead after visiting his Cambodian fiancee at a guesthouse in the capital of Phnom Penh, consular officials say.

The victim was named by local police as Eric Liu, the Phnom Penh Post reported on its website on Sunday.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on Monday confirmed the 43-year-old Victorian died in hospital as a result of gunshot wounds to the chest.

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Cambodian police said he arrived in Cambodia on Saturday and was gunned down about 9.30pm local time in the guesthouse’s reception area. He died at Calmette hospital later that night.

“ He has a Cambodian fiancee. After he landed, he met with his fiancee and they went to a guesthouse where he was shot by two suspects,” national police spokesman Kirt Chantharith told AFP.

The Post reported that a police officer from Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district said Mr Liu was shot twice, in the chest and right hand, by two unknown men on a motorbike.

Australian officials based at the embassy are working closely with the local authorities, while employees in Australia are providing assistance to the man’s family.