Cambodian woman dies, 5 others injure after old mortar shell explodes

A war-left mortar round exploded on Friday morning, killing an old woman and seriously injuring five others in northern Kampong Thom province, a provincial military police chief said. “The explosion occurred at 7:40 a.m. local time in Kampong Svay district when a man was hitting a mortar shell with a hammer to remove saleable scrap-metal,”Gen. Hang Thol, chief of Kampong Thom provincial military police, told Xinhua. “The hitter got seriously injured as an old woman, who was sitting close by, died and four other people were in critical condition during the explosion.”​ … According to a government report, from 1979 to March 2014, landmines and unexploded ordnance had killed 19,693 people and either injured or amputated 44,681 others. …

Xinhuanet News Staff
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2014-05/23/c_133355659.htm