Explosive remnants of war continue to haunt the Cambodian people with the country at peace, with a 33-year-old woman losing a leg after stepping on a landmine while harvesting bamboo shoots in Banteay Meanchey province.

Kouk Romiet commune police chief Dy Saluot told The Post on Thursday that Dok Srey Pov, a resident of Ta Maing village in Thma Pouk district’s Kouk Romiet commune, was seriously injured after stepping on the unexploded ordnance and had to have her right leg amputated.

Srey Pov was looking for bamboo shoots to sell at a market near a stream some 500-600m from the Cambodia-Thailand border when she stepped on the mine at around 3:30pm on Wednesday.

“The victim was taken to the nearby Cambodia-Japan Friendship hospital by soldiers based at the Thma Pouk district military base in Mongkol Borei district.

“The victim’s right leg below the knee was destroyed. We gave her immediate first aid and took her to the hospital in Mongkol Borei district,” Saluot said.

Chea Hok Leng, a soldier at the base who went to Srey Pov’s aid, said: “On Thursday morning, the doctors amputated her leg after deciding it could not be saved. She will now be disabled.”

Heng Ratana, the director-general of the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC), said on Thursday 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.