A 33-year-old villager in Phnom Penh’s Dangkor district lost both of his legs after being struck by a train on Tuesday night, police said yesterday.

Taing Sok Heng, Proteah Lang commune deputy police chief, identified the victim as Keo Piseth.

Piseth, who is a village security guard, had been drinking in the afternoon, and began his night patrol at around 9pm, Sok Heng said.

After his patrol, he was talking to a fellow guard on a walkie-talkie when he abruptly stopped responding.

“Twenty minutes later, police received a report,” Sok Heng said, adding the victim had fallen unconscious on the tracks, and lost both of his legs when he was run over by the train.

John Guiry, chief executive officer for Royal Railways, yesterday said his company had not heard about the case yet.

He said his company has been conducting a lot of education campaigns, including sending a few staff late last week from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville, making several stops along the way, to educate people about the dangers of walking along the tracks.

The company has also been providing safety education in some schools and will soon start airing three public service announcements that it paid $30,000 for.

“It’s frustrating,” he said of train accidents. “It’s not something we want. That’s why we have all these safety campaigns. We are trying out anything we possibly can to get the message out.”