FRA approves establishment of five new firms for investment fund management, SME financing    Sukari Gold Mine showcases successful public–private partnership: Minister of Petroleum    Egypt's Environment Minister attends AMCEN conference in Nairobi    Egypt considers launching national platform to mobilise green financing for private-sector industrial transformation    Egyptian, Belarusian officials discuss drug registration, market access    Egypt's ARC, Italy's AICS sign deal to boost wheat production    Gold prices edge higher on July 16th    Egypt stocks hit record highs in 2025 as reforms fuel rally: Cabinet    Egypt condemns Israeli strikes on Lebanon, Syria    Syria says it will defend its territory after Israeli strikes in Suwayda    Pakistan names Qatari royal as brand ambassador after 'Killer Mountain' climb    Health Ministry denies claims of meningitis-related deaths among siblings    Egypt's Health Min. discusses drug localisation with Sandoz    Egypt, Mexico explore joint action on environment, sustainability    Needle-spiking attacks in France prompt government warning, public fear    Foreign, housing ministers discuss Egypt's role in African development push    Korea Culture Week in Egypt to blend K-Pop with traditional arts    Egypt, France FMs review Gaza ceasefire efforts, reconstruction    CIB finances Giza Pyramids Sound and Light Show redevelopment with EGP 963m loan    Egypt's PM urges BRICS to prioritise peace    Greco-Roman tombs with hieroglyphic inscriptions discovered in Aswan    Egypt reveals heritage e-training portal    Three ancient rock-cut tombs discovered in Aswan    Sisi launches new support initiative for families of war, terrorism victims    Egypt's GAH, Spain's Konecta discuss digital health partnership    Egypt expands e-ticketing to 110 heritage sites, adds self-service kiosks at Saqqara    Egypt's Irrigation Minister urges scientific cooperation to tackle water scarcity    Palm Hills Squash Open debuts with 48 international stars, $250,000 prize pool    Egypt's Democratic Generation Party Evaluates 84 Candidates Ahead of Parliamentary Vote    On Sport to broadcast Pan Arab Golf Championship for Juniors and Ladies in Egypt    Golf Festival in Cairo to mark Arab Golf Federation's 50th anniversary    Germany among EU's priciest labour markets – official data    Cabinet approves establishment of national medical tourism council to boost healthcare sector    Egypt's PM follows up on Julius Nyerere dam project in Tanzania    Paris Olympic gold '24 medals hit record value    A minute of silence for Egyptian sports    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Cambodia stampede kills at least 375 at festival
Published in Almasry Alyoum on 23 - 11 - 2010

Phnom Penh--A stampede on a bridge in Cambodia's capital killed at least 375 people when thousands panicked, pinning and trampling revelers on the last day of a festival marking the end of the rainy season.
The stampede began late on Monday on a small bridge lined with lights connecting Phnom Penh to an island where a crowd of mostly young people had gathered to celebrate the water festival and watch a concert.
Survivors said panic set in when shouts went up that several people had been electrocuted. Police said some people also shouted that the bridge was about to collapse as thousands of people were heading back to the city center.
The victims suffocated or were trampled and some survivors said they were wedged into the crowd of living and dead for hours. Police sprayed water so survivors could drink, some said.
"People were shouting that someone had been electrocuted, to run back," Touch Loch, 18, told Reuters. "I fell and people stepped on me until I passed out. When I woke I was here in hospital."
"People were crying for their fathers and mothers."
State television said at least 240 of the dead were women.
Government spokesman Phay Siphan said some bodies had not been recovered, suggesting the death toll could climb beyond 375.
Khon Sros, 19, said from her hospital bed some people had leapt off the bridge to escape but she had been pinned in the crowd from her waist down until police pulled her out.
"One man died near me. He was weak and didn't have enough air."
Touch Theara, 38, said she had been stuck in the crowd for three hours: "I thought I was dead ... Police sprayed water at us. We were just opening our mouths to drink."
Prime Minister Hun Sen apologized for the disaster in which at least 755 people were hurt. He ordered an investigation as television footage showed relatives weeping over the bodies of the dead piled one on top of the other.
"This is the biggest tragedy in more than 31 years after the Pol Pot regime," he said, referring to the Khmer Rouge, whose agrarian revolution from 1975-1979 killed an estimated 1.7 million people in Cambodia under the command of Pol Pot.
He declared Thursday a day of mourning.
ROWS OF DEAD
Emergency crews carried lifeless bodies and laid them out in rows for identification.
Many bodies were piled into ambulances and trucks and taken to city hospitals where paramedics searched for signs of life. Hospital wards and corridors were packed with injured.
Hun Sen urged the country to remain calm and ruled out terrorism as a cause for the catastrophe, which took place on the third and final day of the Bon Om Touk water festival.
The festival is the biggest carnival in a city that was for years starved of entertainment as it recovered from Khmer Rouge rule and years of war and isolation.
It marks the end of the life-giving rains when the swollen Tonle Sap river changes course and begins flowing back out of Cambodia's great lake into the Mekong river and down to the South China Sea in southern Vietnam.
An estimated 5 million of Cambodia's 14 million people pour in to the city from the countryside and crowds throng riverbanks to watch traditional boat races, eat and drink.
Flashing colored lights lined the small bridge at the heart of the disaster. Piles of shoes, clothes and possessions dropped in the crush littered the ground.
The bridge connects the capital to Koh Pich, or Diamond Island, a small stretch of land filled with new exhibition centers, restaurants and stalls. It is particularly popular with women shoppers during the festival, when traders offer discounts.
The stampede was the world's worst since January 2006, when 362 Muslim pilgrims were crushed to death while performing a stoning ritual at the entrance to the Jamarat Bridge near Mecca in Saudi Arabia.


Clic here to read the story from its source.