An anti-tank mine explosion yesterday in Banteay Meanchey’s Malai district claimed the life of one man, after his tractor drove over the buried munition.

Cambodian Mine Action Centre’s deputy manager for Banteay Meanchey, Seam Hak, said 24-year-old Chan So­­phoan, was driving his tractor to a rice field in Tuol Pongro commune when he struck the mine.

“He was killed after the anti-tank mine exploded. His body was shredded to pieces,” the CMAC deputy manager said.

Provincial deputy police chief Chan Kosa said Tuol Pongro was a battleground for Khmer Rouge and government troops in the 1980s.

Many of the buried unexploded ordnances have not yet been removed and destroyed.

This is the third mine explosion in Banteay Meanchey this year, with one blast in February killing eight people and injuring another when a tractor ran over two anti-tank mines.

The CMAC Incident report for January through June of 2011 recorded 17 fatalities and another 71 injuries, with 19 requiring amputations, after coming into contact with unexploded ordnances.