A farmer in Oddar Meanchey province died on Monday after driving his tractor over an anti-tank mine in Trapaing Prasat district, triggering an explosion that severed a leg and an arm, police said Tuesday.
District police chief Ilon Lorn said the farmer, Keo Yean, 44, was plowing his farm in Preah Brolay commune when he set off the mine.
“This area was a war area. There are still lots of anti-tank mines as well as small mines under the land,” he said, adding that Keo Yean died while receiving treatment in hospital.
“We worry about the mines that still stay under the land; we do not know how many more citizens will get hurt or disabled or die because of the mines.”
Mr. Lorn said that mine-clearing agencies, including the Cambodian Mine Action Center and Halo, have cleared mines in the commune in the past but mostly around people’s homes and not their fields.
