Wednesday, 24 November 2010

AKP - Agent Kampuchea Press


via CAAI

PM Calls on Investors, Tourists Not to Worry about Their Safety

Phnom Penh, November 23, 2010 AKP -- Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen appealed early this morning investors and foreign tourists not to worry about their safety.

The appeal was made after hundreds of Cambodian people were killed and injured in a stampede at Koh Pich Center on Monday night, the last day of the Water Festival.

This is not a terrorist act, but a tragic incident for Cambodian people, he said.

In an emergent directive, the Cambodian premier announced Nov. 25 as the national mourning day to commemorate the people killed during this incident.

This is the biggest death toll since Pol Pot regime and even flood has never inflicted such a high death toll, Samdech Techo Hun Sen said.

The directive further recommended all state institutions and public and private establishments to hoist the flag at half mast.

The incident took place on a bridge at Diamond Island Convention and Exhibition Center (Koh Pich) in Phnom Penh when millions of Cambodian people celebrated the three-day Water Festival, the country’s most popular festival.

According to the Cambodian prime minister, the death toll has increased to 345, with about 391 people injured. A special commission has been set up to investigate this tragic incident.

In a statement, the Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation has called on all families who lost their relatives to contact the ministry or the Phnom Penh Municipality.

The government will help arrange the transportation of the corpses home and provide 5 million Riel (Cambodian currency roughly US$1,250) to each corpse, it said. --AKP

(By SOKMOM Nimul)

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