Concerns over ballot fraud and names being left off the voter list devolved into a riot this afternoon in Phnom Penh’s Stung Meanchey district, and angry residents have detained the polling station director inside the pagoda, according to the district governor.

"A group of CNRP youth didn't like the director of the station and kept her in the office," Meanchey district governor Kuch Chamroeun said this evening.

One man was injured and sent to hospital after rioters threw rocks at him when he attempted to get the woman out of the office, Chamroeun added.

Some 100 riot police, led by municipal police chief Choun Sovann, were deployed to quell the demonstration, which remained ongoing while the station director remains detained. 

Separately, traffic police shut down the Stung Meanchey bridge. One officer posted at the edge of the road urged drivers to turn around.  

“Please do not cross the bridge. It is very dangerous,” he shouted through a loudspeaker. “They are violent with the people and police. If you live nearby, please take another way or another safe place."

Many residents followed the instruction, running into their homes, shuttering doors and windows, after police let out a volley of shots into the air.

"I do not know what's happened, but I just know it is very messy,” said a resident decamped in his home, who declined to give his name due to the sensitivity of the situation. 


At least two military police vehicles were wrecked by rioters, who pelted them with rocks before overturning the cars and setting them ablaze.