A Ratanakkiri province district governor drowned Sunday after saving his two children after their boat capsized, officials said Monday.
Khlok Son, who was in his 40s, went fishing around 5 pm Sunday with two of his children in Lumphat district’s Sre Pok River, provincial governor Muong Poy said by phone.
The boat in which the family was traveling hit a rock and began to sink, Muong Poy said, adding that Khlok Son helped both his children, aged 12 and 13 years, to safety but then drowned himself.
“He helped his two children, and [then] became exhausted,” Muong Poy said.
Nab Bun Heng, a provincial cabinet chief, said that Khlok Son had saved his children but then made the fatal mistake of trying to save his sinking boat.
“He had already [brought] his two children to the shore, but he went back to the boat,” Nab Bun Heng said, adding that Khlok Son’s body was found Monday morning in Chey Odom commune.
Khlok Son had been a district governor in Lumphat since 2002 for Funcinpec, but switched over to the CPP shortly before April’s commune elections. He is survived by his wife and seven children, Nab Bun Heng added.
