Three people were severely hurt when a tractor in Banteay Meanchey ran over a buried anti-tank mine in a former battlefield on Thursday.

The explosion in Svay Chek district caused one man to lose both his legs, while another lost his eyes and broke his feet and the third sustained minor wounds, according to Song Sokhon, the district’s deputy police chief.

The men were on their way home to O’Chrou district carrying water when they ran over the mine, Sokhon said. They were sent to a nearby town hospital.

Seven districts in Banteay Meanchey, including Svay Chek, have yet to be cleared by demining teams, according to Tean Sovann Phalla, provincial director of the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC).

In the first six months of this year, there have been 101 injuries and 14 people have been killed due to unexploded ordnance, up from 65 injuries and eight deaths in the same period last year.