One miner was killed and another injured late on Sunday night after the shaft they were working in collapsed in Kratie province, after a similar incident killed two miners in Ratanakkiri province on Friday.
Sambor District Police Chief Noy Sithach said that victim Huon Veasna, 33, died after he was taken to hospital, while Nheth Phat, 23, injured his left hand. The men were mining for gold when the accident occurred.
“The incident took place at 12am. After the accident he was carried to the provincial hospital, but at 2am Huon Veasna died . . . because a rock had fallen on him . . . We looked at him but we did not see any wound, but when he died we saw blood coming out of his ear,” Sithach said.
He added that there were a total of six workers in the 50-metre-deep shaft when it collapsed, but the other four were not injured.
According to Sithach, the mine shaft belonged to Kong Bun Neang, who employed the miners but did not provide further details. The mine was shut down by the time the provincial prosecutor arrived at the scene, he added.
On Friday, two indigenous miners – one a teenager – were killed after the mine shaft they were working in collapsed and buried them alive in Ratanakkiri’s Lumphat district.
Yos Monirath, spokesman for the Ministry of Mines, did not respond to multiple requests for comment yesterday on whether the ministry would take action following the two incidents.
