Two men were injured yesterday in separate landmine accidents in Banteay Meanchey province’s Thma Puok district, authorities reported.

District deputy police chief Chea Sloth told the Post yesterday that 49-year-old Meoun Yan broke his right ankle after stepping on a landmine while he was searching for vegetables, while 58-year-old Yem Thun suffered minor injuries after stepping on a mine while he was hunting rabbits.

“They entered the prohibited area, where there are many landmines,” Chea Sloth said.

“The [man with the broken ankle] was sent to be treated at a hospital in Battambang province,” he added.

Sean Hak, deputy provincial chief of the Cambodian Mine Action Centre in Banteay Meanchey, said that these two incidents were the fourth and fifth cases of landmine accidents this year.

Last year, he said, two people died and 15 were injured in a total of 10 cases.