Two workers were electrocuted to death while installing electrical cables on National Road 76 in Mondulkiri’s Koh Nhek district when the electrical pole they were working on fell on Saturday.

District police official Kann Penh said yesterday that the families of Sann Sothun, 24, and Yeam Sothun, 15, were given an unspecified amount of compensation by their employer, EM Company.

“I saw the representative of the company paid for the funeral and compromised with the families,” he said.

Describing the incident, Penh said the victims were strapped to the pole with harnesses. “Witnesses . . . saw them working on the pole 8 to 9 metres high. The pole collapsed, sending them to the ground and killing them,” he said.

Sar Mora, president of the Cambodian Food and Service Worker’s Federation (CFSWF), said that companies in the Kingdom often failed to adequately provide safety training, and contended that 15-year-old Yeam Sothun should not have been hired in the first place.

“It’s a big mistake of the company,” he said.

EM representatives could not be reached.