A Cambodian military officer working with U.N. peacekeepers in the Central African Republic died from complications due to malaria early on Monday morning, according to an official from the Cambodian National Center for Peacekeeping Forces (NPMEC).
Sergeant Major Luy Bunlong was a construction operator with the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, NPMEC deputy director-general Phal Samorn said.
“We sent him for treatment at a hospital in Rwanda, but he died of severe malaria at about 2 a.m.,” he said.
Luy Bunlong was one of 216 officers who have been sent to the Central African Republic, according to Mr. Samorn, entering the country for a roughly one-year mission at the end of 2015.
“We express our condolences regarding the loss of our soldier,” Mr. Samorn said.
“We feel shock and regret for the loss of our friend in arms.”
Luy Bunlong is the fifth Cambodian peacekeeper to die while on a U.N. mission, with the four other deaths occurring in Mali—two due to food poisoning, one due to a violent sandstorm and a fourth due to malaria.
