18 Nov 2010

Civil war mine kills 14

5:59 am on 18 November 2010

An explosion of an anti-tank mine left behind by civil war in Cambodia has killed 14 people, including a child.

The group was returning from work at a chilli farm when their tractor hit the mine. Five families were involved.

Banan district police chief Buth Sambo said the driver of the tractor had decided to take a short-cut and crossed into a field which was once the site of heavy fighting between the Khmer Rouge and government troops.

Official figures show that people die in incidents involving unexploded ordinance every week in Cambodia.

The government says 53 people have died this year up to October; 63,754 people have died from left-over ordinance since 1979.