A man was seriously injured in Battambang province yesterday when he stepped on an anti-personnel mine, causing it to explode, officials told the Post.

Ly Buoy, Samlot district police chief, said that 31-year-old Chhorn Sono was collecting wood in a forest in Chork Rokar village when the mine exploded early yesterday morning.

“He was not a military man, but he was hired to collect wooden planks for renovating a border outpost,” he said.

Buoy added that Sono was rushed to hospital.

“According to the [hospital] report, he lost his left leg and his right leg is severely injured,” he said.

Keo Pov, provincial coordinator of mines for the Cambodian Mine Action Centre, said that both of Sono’s legs had been damaged, but that he was lucky to still be alive.

“That kind of mine is capable of destroying the [whole] lower part of the body. The victim could be dead if he was alone in the forest,” Pov said.

Two Cambodian deminers were killed in an explosion while working in Battamang earlier this year.