Landmines kill 10 Cambodians, injure 61 in 4 months

Landmines kill 10 Cambodians, injure 61 in 4 months

PHNOM PENH, June 6 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia on Friday reported 71 landmine casualties in the first four months of 2014, an increase of 61 percent from 44 casualties for the same period last year.

The report by the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority showed that during the January-April period, 10 persons were killed, up from only four at the same period last year.

Besides, 61 others were either injured or amputated during the period, up from 40 in the year-earlier period.

It said that 87 percent of the victims were male.

Last month, two Cambodian deminers were killed on the spot after detonating an anti-tank mine while carrying out mine clearance work in a former battlefield in northwestern Battambang province.

Cambodia is one of the countries in the world that suffer the worst from mines. An estimated 4 million to 6 million landmines and other munitions have been left over from three decades of war and internal conflicts that ended in 1998.

Heng Ratana, head of the Cambodian Mine Action Center, has said that the country needs around 50 million U.S. dollars a year until 2020 to entirely get rid of all types of anti-personnel mines.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/xinhua-news-agency/140606/landmines-kill-10-cambodians-injure-61-4-months