Cambodia mourns stampede victims

Cambodia marked a national day of mourning Thursday, grieving the more than 300 people who were killed in Monday's stampede at a water festival in the capital of Phnom Penh. Gneth Srey Keang, 18, the sister of Gneth Srey Neang, who was killed in the bridge stampede on Nov. 22, attends a ceremony Thursday for the victims during a national day of mourning in Phnom Penh. (Chor Sokunthea/Reuters) Prime Minister Hun Sen and his wife Bun Rany wiped away tears as they lit incense in memory of the at least 347 people who were killed. At least 395 more were injured and some people are still missing. Police now estimate that there were between 7,000 and 8,000 people on the suspension bridge at the time of the stampede. The bridge started to sway, people...

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Cambodian anger over stampede management

Zoe Daniel reported this story on Sunday, November 28, 2010 08:05:00 Listen to MP3 of this story ( minutes) Alternate WMA version | MP3 download !-- Cambodia is still coming to terms with the deaths of hundreds of people killed in Monday's stampede and anger over the management of the water festival and the lack of control over the huge crowd, has grown. --> ELIZABETH JACKSON: Cambodia is still coming to terms with the deaths of hundreds of people killed in a stampede on Monday at Phnom Penh's annual Water Festival. Most of the bodies have been identified and some funerals have been held, but anger over the management of the event and the lack of control over the huge crowd has grown.Here's our South-East Asia correspondent Zoe Daniel.ZOE DANIEL: Cambodian...

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Thai PM sends condolences to families of victims in Cambodian festival tragedy

BANGKOK, Nov 23 - Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Tuesday extended condolences to Cambodian premier Hun Sen to the families of hundreds of lives lost in a stampede at the annual water festival in Cambodia.The stampede occurred Monday on a narrow bridge, greatly overcrowded, in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh."On behalf of the Government and people of Thailand, I wish to extend my sincere condolences and sympathy to you and, through you, to the bereaved families of the victims in this tragic incident."My thoughts are with the people of Cambodia in this difficult time. The Thai Government is ready to provide support and assistance to our friends in Cambodia,” Mr Abhisit said in the statement to his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen.Thailand...

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Probe finds bridge sway set off Cambodian stampede

Bun Oun, who lost his daughter in Monday's stampede, cries during her cremation at Sombourmeas temple in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Wednesday. Photo: AP. An investigation into a stampede at a festival in the Cambodian capital that killed hundreds of revelers has initially concluded that it was set off when a crowded bridge started swaying, local media reported on Wednesday.Bayon TV, which serves as a mouthpiece for the government, said that the high—level committee set up to probe the Monday night tragedy found that many of the people on the bridge were from the countryside and unaware that it was normal for a suspension bridge to sway. In their fear it was collapsing, they tried to run off.Officials have said that 378 people were killed and at least 755 others injured in the stampede....

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Scenes of grief amid Cambodia crush carnage

By Guy De Launey BBC News, Phnom PenhRelatives are searching picture boards outside hospitals for missing loved onesCalmette Hospital is rarely a happy place at the best of times. It may be Phnom Penh's flagship healthcare centre but facilities are basic.Now the Diamond Island bridge disaster may have turned it into the saddest corner of Cambodia.Most of those injured in the crush on Diamond Island bridge were brought there, more than 700 of them - a serious challenge for the limited facilities of Calmette and several other Phnom Penh hospitals.Patients and staff were forced to improvise. The injured lay on the floor if no bed was available, or stayed in the corridors if there was no room in the wards.But it was not only the wounded who were...

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Families seek Cambodia stampede victims

Alastair Leithead: "Suddenly everyone was stampeding, trying to get out of that very confined space"RELATED STORIESScenes of grief after Cambodia carnageEyewitness: Cambodia stampedeIn pictures: Cambodia's deadly stampedeFamilies in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh have been scouring morgues and hospitals in search of relatives missing after a deadly stampede.Search teams have also been trawling a river for bodies after the crush on a footbridge left at least 378 people dead and hundreds more injured.Prime Minister Hun Sen declared Thursday a day of mourning and promised an investigation into the disaster.The stampede happened on the final day of the traditional Water Festival.Witnesses said the bridge had become overcrowded.Hun Sen described...

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Officials probe fatal stampede in Cambodia

HUNDREDS KILLED AFTER MAYHEM ON BRIDGE AFTER WATER FESTIVALRelatives cry at Preah Kossamak Hospital, where the bodies of stampede victims are laid, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Tuesday. (Associated Press)By Richard S. EhrlichThe Washington Times8:02 p.m., Tuesday, November 23, 2010BANGKOK | Cambodian officials are investigating why thousands of revelers panicked during a festival in Phnom Penh on Monday and stampeded across a narrow bridge, killing at least 378 people and injuring scores more.Emergency teams, survivors and distraught relatives and friends desperately searched on Tuesday among corpses strewn on the bridge and floating in the river.Many of the dead were later laid on the ground in rows, under white cloth, at hospitals before being...

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Cause of deadly Cambodia stampede still unknown

A Cambodian man carries the body of his son killed in a stampede, at Preah Kossamak Hospital in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2010. (AP / Sakchai Lalit)Updated: Tue Nov. 23 2010 5:08:21 PMThe Associated PressPHNOM PENH, Cambodia — At the bridge where investigators poked though the debris of a disaster -- abandoned flip-flops and sneakers, water bottles, pieces of sugar cane -- Chea Chan lit a Buddhist memorial offering of incense, coconut and lotus flowers, and wept.The 28-year-old had tried to grab his younger brother during the riverside stampede that left at least 378 dead Monday night, but he was pushed against the support poles of the narrow suspension bridge. His little brother fell down and immediately was crushed under four...

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Death Toll at Cambodia's Water Festival Rises as Nation Mourns

summary_noimg = 800; summary_img = 650; img_thumb_height = 150; img_thumb_width = 200; //![CDATA[ function removeHtmlTag(strx,chop){ if(strx.indexOf("")!=-1) { var s = strx.split(""); for(var i=0;i")!=-1){ s[i] = s[i].substring(s[i].indexOf(">")+1,s[i].length); } } strx = s.join(""); } chop = (chop =1) { imgtag = ''; summ = summary_img; } var summary = imgtag + '' + removeHtmlTag(div.innerHTML,summ) + ''; div.innerHTML = summary; } //]]> Photo: VOA - Robert Carmichael Buddhist monks chant prayers for the dead at bridge where less than 24 hours earlier more than...

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Hundreds Die in Stampede on Cambodian Island

Heng Sinith/Associated Press People were pushed onto a bridge in Phnom Penh on Monday. if($$('div.articleSpanImage') != null) { var articleSpanImage = $$('div.articleSpanImage')[0].getElementsByTagName("img")[0]; var articleSpanImageSrc = articleSpanImage.getAttribute('src'); articleSpanImage.setAttribute('src',"http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/global/backgrounds/transparentBG.gif"); var filter = "progId:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.AlphaImageLoader(src='"+articleSpanImageSrc+"', sizingMethod='scale' )"; articleSpanImage.style.filter = filter; } By SETH MYDANS BANGKOK — More than 300 people were...

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Cambodia sees Suu Kyi release as positive step

Photo by: AFP A Myanmar activist holds a portrait of detained Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi during protest outside Myanmar's embassy in Bangkok last year. government has hailed the release of Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi after years of house arrest, describing it as an important step on the road towards democracy. “The government of Cambodia welcomes the release of Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar,” said Koy Kuong, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He said Suu Kyi’s release was a sign the military government is implementing its seven-step “roadmap to democracy”, the fifth of which came into force with controversial...

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Vann Molyvann: Cambodia's forgotten architect

In the 1960s, he redefined the look of his homeland architecturally. Now his works are being lost to redevelopment. Admirers are working to highlight his importance. Cambodian architecture Vann Molyvann, 78, sketches a project in Phnom Penh, in 2005. Vann Molyvann was a key...

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Little Profit Despite Tourism Growth

The average Cambodian citizen has yet to see the benefits of the country’s growing tourism industry. AFP Tourists visit Bayon temple in Siem Reap province, Dec. 7, 2008. Despite a large increase in foreign tourists and tourism-generated revenue, Cambodia’s poverty-stricken population is seeing very few of the profits, according to sources familiar with the industry.The country’s minister of tourism, Tong Khon, said recently that the number of foreign tourists visiting Cambodia in the first nine months of 2010 had risen nearly 15 percent to 1.8 million from a year ago.“The increase...

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China's top regislator start visit Cambodia

Wu Bangguo (R front), chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China, arrives in Phnom Penh for an official visit to Cambodia. (Xinhua/Li Tao) PHNOM PENH, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- China's top legislator Wu Bangguo arrived here on Wednesday, kicking off his 4-day official visit to the Southeast Asian country. Wu's arrival is the first of its kind in nearly 10 years for a Chinese top legislator to visit the country. Wu, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People' s Congress, China's top legislature, is scheduled to hold talks with King Norodom Sihamoni, National Assembly President Heng Samrim, Senate...

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Bank of China and Malaysia CIMB to Invest in Cambodia

//if (linkornot==1) //document.write('') //document.write('') //if (linkornot==1) //document.write('') Bank of China and Malaysia CIMB getting close to licenses for Cambodia The Bank of China and CIMB of Malaysia are close to get licenses for business in Cambodia, a central bank official said Wednesday. “The Bank of China has nearly completed all criteria, and now they are preparing the location and staff for the operations,” Thai Saphear, deputy director of the Cabinet and Head of the Governor’s Office at the National Bank of Cambodia,...

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