Monks with a senior monk Ngoun Ngeth assembled at the site where 345 people died in a stampede to pray for the deceased - photo James Loving - NR

A government official attended the ceremony for the deceased - photo James Loving - NR

Debris left behind on the bridge. Photo taken 15 hours after the incident - photo James Loving - NR

Travel Tips - CAMBODIA'S WATER FESTIVAL CATASTROPHE

James Loving/National Radio Text Service

Within 20 hours of a stampede over a bridge 345 have been reported dead and 300 injured. The day afterthe death toll rose to approach 400. The government said that the investigation would be conducted by a special committee that would take evidence and testimony from witnesses to the incident. - The government announced that they would pay $1200 to the families of the deceased and $600 to those injured.

Tuesday November 23, 2010 - Update - Wednesday November 24, 2010

A CELEBRATION GONE BAD

In what is annually a three day Water Festival celebration in Phnom Penh came to a tragic climax when 345 people died and 300 injured in a panic stampede over the Diamond Bridge. The day after the death toll rose to approach 400.

Though the details are sketchy various reports have noted that around 10 PM on the last day of the festivities the crowd panicked leaving the activities on Koh Pich Island. Witnesses said that people had been "stuck on the bridge" for several hours before, and victims were not freed until hours after the actual stampede occurred.

The Guardian reported that a witness said the cause of the stampede was "too many people on the bridge and...both ends were pushing. This caused a sudden panic. The pushing caused those in the middle to fall to the ground, then [get] crushed." While trying to get away from the stampede, he said that people pulled down electrical wires, causing more people to die of electrocution. These claims were backed up by one of the doctors treating patients, who said that electrocution and suffocation were the primary causes of death among the casualties, though the government disputed the claims of electric shock.

The three-day event is to celebrate the end of the monsoon season and the biannual reversal of flow of the Tonlé Sap River. The incident was the third in as many years at the festival—five rowers on a boat drowned in 2008, and another rower drowned in 2009.

Conflicting reports on CNN noted that water hoses were turned on the crowd to disperse them. The panic was said to begin with pushing and shoving resulting in people being suffocated, crushed while others jumped from the bridge into the Tonle Sap River and drowned.

CNN also reported that the water was it was to cool the crowd down. The government denied that any water was sprayed. CNN had on the air Rick Valenzuela a reporter from the Phnom Penh Post who said of the victim's possessions left behind on the bridge, "Everything was soaked."

Another conflicting report is that some were electrocuted by downed electrical wires which electrocuted some of the victims.

An hour after the CNN mid day interview with Valenzuela they communicated via telephone with the Phnom Penh Post editor Philip Bader who said the death toll was rising and said he believed that it had risen to 375 and would increase. Several hours later the most consistent death figure was 345 as reports trickled in on the BBC, Channel News Asia (CNA) and CNN.

A report on Wikipedia noted that CNN reported that a journalist from The Phnom Penh Post said that the stampede had occurred due to police forces firing a water cannon into people on the bridge in an attempt to force them to move them off the bridge after it began swaying, which had triggered panic among those on it. Cambodian Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said that the stampede began when panic broke out after several people fell unconscious on the crowded island.

This afternoon (Tuesday November 23) approximately 500 monks and government officials gathered at the entrance of the bridge in a ceremony to pray for the deceased. The government announced that they would pay $1250 to the families of the deceased and $600 to those injured. The VOA (Voice of America) reported that only $250 would be paid to the injured.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said in a televised special that "with this miserable event, I would like to share my condolences with my compatriots and the family members of the victims." He noted that it was the biggest loss of life in the country since the 1979 fall of the Khmer Rouge. Hun Sen ordered an inquiry to be conducted in response to the incident, and declared 25 November to be a day of mourning. The government said that the investigation would be conducted by a special committee that would take evidence and testimony from witnesses to the incident.

Television stations Bayon TV, CTN, My TV and the Sea Channel Network held telethons to raise money for the families of victims.

CNN noted that the tragedy occurred as it does in other third world countries because of the lack of safety measures, poor planning and inadequate training for crowd control. They then listed other tragedies of other incidents in countries that happened in the past.

In a press release by the US government US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton stated, "On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I offer our deep condolences for the tragic loss of life and the injuries in Phnom Penh during Cambodia’s annual Water Festival. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of the victims and with all the people of the Kingdom of Cambodia. I have seen their strength and resilience first hand, including during my recent visit, and I am confident that they will pull together and persevere through this difficult time."

NOTE:

In our report on the Water Festival we gave a travel tip not to get into a situation where you do not have elbow length space around you and do not let people press up against you.

National Radio text is published in five languages, English, Thai, French, Russian and Khmer (Cambodian language). Any of our foreign language material and our Roman Wanderaugh columns is legally available ONLY on our National Radio site. Our sports, entertainment and feature programming has been broadcast on over 1000 radio stations.