A 56-year-old man drowned while trying to catch fish with a gill net in a creek located in Svay Rieng’s Svay Chrum district on Monday afternoon, according to local police.

Mao Sokhon, Svay Chrum district deputy police chief, said yesterday the victim, farmer Khoun Sophal, was found in the creek about 100 metres from his home.

“After the body was examined, we determined the victim died by drowning. And then we gave the body to the victim’s family to make funeral arrangements,” Sokhon said.

According to the deceased’s wife, Im Long, 54, on the day of the incident, Sophal had gone to set a gill net in the river before going to his farm to harvest his rice paddies.

At around noon, after finishing the harvest, he went to check the net with his son. Long said that shortly thereafter, her son ran to her in the rice field to tell her that Sophal had fallen into the river.

“After hearing that, I rushed to help him with some other villagers, but it was too late – he had drowned,” Long said yesterday.