Two brothers in Oddar Meanchey province were killed and five other family members were injured when one of the men detonated a grenade during an argument over inheritance, police said Monday.
According to Sim San, chief of police in Samraong district, the brothers—former Khmer Rouge soldiers Roeun Thai, 40, and Roeun Thy, 49—kept old grenades in their home in Samraong City, and that Mr. Thy accidentally detonated one of them when an argument with his sisters over an inherited house escalated.
“Mr. Thy was asking for more money from his sisters, who were left a house, and Mr. Thai intervened, causing Mr. Thy to become very angry, and when he produced a grenade, his brother tried to grab it because there were many people there, but it detonated,” Mr. San said.
The two men were killed by the explosion, he said, while their two sisters, Roeun Pheath, 43, and Roeun Kan, 48, along with three other members of their extended family—Thy Lau, 21; Tim Sal, 27; and Re Kon 52—were injured in the blast and brought to the provincial hospital.
Srey Naren, provincial coordinator for local rights group Adhoc, confirmed that the family members had been feuding over inheritance and that the eldest brother was the one who deployed the grenade.
“The tragedy occurred because of a family dispute,” he said, adding that only two of the bystanders were seriously wounded.
