File
photo shows a demining expert (R) guiding members of an international
delegation as they tour a landmine clearance site in northwestern
Cambodia.
By ,
The Washington Post
PHNOM PENH - Four American demining experts were wounded Tuesday by an accidental explosion at Cambodia's main training center for the removal of
unexploded ordnance, its director said.
Heng Ratana, the director general of the Cambodian Mine Action Center,
said the accident occurred during a break in training sessions in the
afternoon in the central province of Kampong Chhnang.
He said the four victims, two of them critically injured, were evacuated
by helicopter to a hospital in the capital, Phnom Penh. The names of
the men, who Heng Ratana said arrived in Cambodia last week, have not
been released.
"Four U.S. personnel were injured today in Kampong Chhnang during a mine
clearance training exercise," U.S. Embassy spokesman John Simmons
confirmed.
While details of the accident were not clear, Meas Chamrouen, a trainee
at the center, said machine gun ammunition had exploded, though the
cause was unknown.
An estimated 4 to 6 million land mines and other munitions left over
from three decades of armed conflict kill or maim scores of Cambodians
each year, even though combat ended in the late 1990s.
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Four US demining experts hurt in Cambodian blast
Posted: 15 January 2013
News Channel Asia
PHNOM PENH: Four
American demining experts were injured in a blast at a Cambodian
training centre during a mine clearance exercise, officials and the US
embassy said on Tuesday.
Two of the men were seriously injured in the explosion at the Cambodian Mine Action Centre facility in the central province of Kampong Chhnang, the centre's director Heng Ratana told AFP.
They were airlifted to hospital in the capital Phnom Penh, he said, adding the cause of the blast was not immediately clear.
US embassy spokesman John Simmons confirmed the incident.
"Four US personnel were injured today in Kampong Chhnang during a mine clearance training exercise," he said.
Nearly three decades of civil war left impoverished Cambodia one of the world's most heavily-mined countries.
In 2011 leftover landmines and other unexploded ordnance killed 43 people and caused 168 injuries including 33 amputations, according to official data.
- AFP/xq
----------------------------------------
Four US demining experts injured in Cambodia blast
According to the center’s director Heng Ratana, two of the men have been seriously injured in the explosion which took place at the Cambodian Mine Action Center facility in the central Cambodian province of Kampong Chhnang.
Ratana added that the victims were transferred to a hospital in the capital Phnom Penh.
Meas Chamrouen, a demining expert, said the incident, which was confirmed by US embassy spokesman John Simmons on Tuesday, was caused by the explosion of machine gun ammunition.
Landmines left from Cambodia’s 30-year-long civil war period have taken a severe toll on the impoverished people of the Southeast Asian country.
According to official data, 43 people were killed by unexploded ordnance in Cambodia in 2011, and 168 others suffered injuries and amputations.
TE/SS
Two of the men were seriously injured in the explosion at the Cambodian Mine Action Centre facility in the central province of Kampong Chhnang, the centre's director Heng Ratana told AFP.
They were airlifted to hospital in the capital Phnom Penh, he said, adding the cause of the blast was not immediately clear.
US embassy spokesman John Simmons confirmed the incident.
"Four US personnel were injured today in Kampong Chhnang during a mine clearance training exercise," he said.
Nearly three decades of civil war left impoverished Cambodia one of the world's most heavily-mined countries.
In 2011 leftover landmines and other unexploded ordnance killed 43 people and caused 168 injuries including 33 amputations, according to official data.
- AFP/xq
----------------------------------------
Four US demining experts injured in Cambodia blast
Four American demining
experts have been injured in a blast at a Cambodian training center
during a mine clearing exercise, officials said.
According to the center’s director Heng Ratana, two of the men have been seriously injured in the explosion which took place at the Cambodian Mine Action Center facility in the central Cambodian province of Kampong Chhnang.
Ratana added that the victims were transferred to a hospital in the capital Phnom Penh.
Meas Chamrouen, a demining expert, said the incident, which was confirmed by US embassy spokesman John Simmons on Tuesday, was caused by the explosion of machine gun ammunition.
Landmines left from Cambodia’s 30-year-long civil war period have taken a severe toll on the impoverished people of the Southeast Asian country.
According to official data, 43 people were killed by unexploded ordnance in Cambodia in 2011, and 168 others suffered injuries and amputations.
TE/SS
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