Tuesday, January 15, 2013

4 U.S. experts injured during de-mining exercise in Cambodia

Location map of Cambodia with Kampong Chhnang ...
Location map of Cambodia with Kampong Chhnang Province highlighted Equirectangular projection, N/S stretching 105 %. Geographic limits of the map: * N: 14.8° N * S: 9.9° N * W: 102.2° E * E: 107.9° E (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
PHNOM PENH, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Four American demining experts got injured on Tuesday afternoon while an unexploded ordnance (UXO) exploded at a mine clearance training field in Cambodia's northern Kampong Chhnang province, Heng Ratana, director general of Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC) said.
"Two of them are in critical condition," he told Xinhua over telephone. "Our officials had sent them to hospital in Phnom Penh by a helicopter soon after the incident."

He said that the incident happened at the CMAC Training Center in Kampong Chhnang, about 91 kilometers north of Cambodian capital Phnom Penh.

"The UXO exploded at the UXO disposal training field," he said, adding that the injured experts were sent from the U.S. Department of Defense to train Cambodian de-miners for a 3-week course.

He said that there was no Cambodian de-miner hurt in the incident.

U.S. Embassy spokesman John Simmons confirmed on Tuesday evening that "four U.S. personnel were injured today in Kampong Chhnang during a mine clearance training exercise."

He did not share the details of the incident.

It was the first time that foreign experts were injured during the mine clearance course in the country.

Cambodia is one of the world's worst countries affected by mines as the result of almost three decades of war and internal conflicts from the mid-1960s until the end of 1998.

Since 1979 to November 2012, landmines have killed 19,661, injured 35,623 others and amputated 8,898, according to the government record.

The country needs an estimated 30 million U.S. dollars a year until 2020 to totally eliminate mines and explosive remnants of war.

from XINHUA
2013-01-15 20:27:27

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