A 66-year-old fisherman drowned on Sunday after his legs became entangled in a gill net that he was setting along the Pursat River in Pursat province’s Sampov Meas district.

According to Roleab commune police chief Un Ho, the victim, Trinh Torn, who lived in Omal village, was setting his 50-metre gill net along a swift-moving section of the river when the accident happened.

“Before the incident, Torn went to set the fishing net around the river. It was drizzling and the current was very strong,” Ho said. “Then he disappeared in the water, but no one thought he had drowned because he usually submerges himself after setting the net.

“But after not seeing him emerge from the water, his neighbours and fellow fishermen started looking for him. They eventually found his body with both his legs tangled in the fishing net,” he said.

Ho added that Torn’s body had been retrieved by his family in preparation for his funeral. It was at least the second drowning in Pursat this month, after a man drowned on September 11 while allegedly drinking and swimming with friends.