A man lost his leg while logging after stepping on a landmine. Photo supplied
One of 10 men who illegally logged timber and then crossed the border from Thailand into Preah Vihear province last week lost a leg after he stepped on a landmine.
The men were carrying logs into Cambodian territory from Thailand through a corridor in the Dangrek Mountains in Preah Vihear province’s Choam Ksan district.
Choam Ksan district police chief O Seng told The Post on Saturday that the accident occurred in the Prolong Bes Doung area located in the east of the Anses corridor.
The victim was identified as Srey Pin, 52, a resident of Veal Pothi village in Choam Ksan district’s Choam Ksan commune. He has five children.
A relative of the victim said a few days ago, Pin and two other members of his family, along with seven local villagers, crossed the border into Thailand to log timber illegally.
The source said the group then carried the logs back into Preah Vihear province through the Dangrek Mountains corridor.
While travelling through the area, Pin stepped on an anti-personnel landmine which exploded and resulted in him losing his right leg below the knee.
The party he was travelling with helped carry Pin back and took him to Choam Ksan District Referral Hospital, the source said.
“But his wounds were very serious so the doctors at the district referral hospital transferred him to the 16 Makara hospital in Preah Vihear province,” he said.
The Cambodia-Thailand border in the Dangrek Mountains is littered with landmines and extremely dangerous, he said, and he strongly advised that no one should attempt to pass through there.
Heng Ratana, the director-general of the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC), said last month that landmines and explosive remnants of war are a hidden enemy of the Cambodian people.
“These tragedies are the result of the war. People are still being injured by landmines and the explosive remnants of war that continue to cause the Cambodian people suffering,” he said.
He urged people to be cautious and not to enter areas known to be former battlefields or those near the Cambodia-Thailand border and to never touch unexploded ordnance.
