A 22-year-old Siem Reap man and his four buffalo were killed when lightning struck his cart..

Heng Samang, deputy police chief of Sotnikum district, said that Nue Sonan, a student at Damdek High School, was transporting rice seedlings to his family’s fields in Khchas commune when he and his buffalo were killed.

"Now the man’s parents and other villagers are holding a funeral ceremony and will cremate his body,” he said.

Uk Uory, 49, the mother of the deceased man, said during the funeral service that Nue Sonan had been the family’s primary bread-winner.

“My husband has been seriously ill so he cannot get up from the mat ... things are hopeless now,” she said.

Keo Vy, spokesman for the National Committee for Disaster Management, said that lightning strikes had killed 102 people so far this year, in addition to 61 cattle.

About 54 people have also been severely injured over the same period. Some 128 people were killed by lightning during 2009.