A war-era rocket, buried beneath a farm field in Battambang province’s Phnom Proek district, exploded on Monday, killing a 45-year old man and his wife, police said.

Sareth Viseth, the district deputy police chief, said Khut Cheat was killed instantly while his wife – name unknown – died upon reaching the hospital.

“They went to the field to have some beer during his free time. Cheat made a fire on the ground which is covered with dried plants. Little did he know a piece of unexploded ordnance [UXO] was buried underneath. The heat [from the fire] must have triggered the rocket to explode,” Viseth said.

The war remnant might have been placed by the villagers, he added.