A deadly blast in Kratie over the weekend saw a young widow become one of the Kingdom’s earliest reported UXO fatalities of the year.

Sok Savoeun, 36, struck the 60-mm explosive while clearing grass at a rubber plantation in Snoul district’s Kravanh village at about 7am on Saturday.

Savoeun, who lived in Chivat village with her two children, was rushed to hospital suffering from serious injuries, but doctors were unable to save her.

Police visited the scene following the accident and confirmed that Savoeun had hit a buried artillery shell.

“It is a 60-mm explosive shell that was left since wartime,” said Major Chan Sokim, chief of Snoul police.

The tragedy follows just two days after a policeman lost his right leg to a landmine while on patrol in Battambang’s Solot district.

The Cambodian Mine-UXO Victim Information System said 43 people were killed and another 185 injured by mines or UXO in 2012 alone.

To contact the reporter on this story: Lieng Sarith at [email protected]